As most of you know, particularly if you've read any of the posts in my Electric Vehicles (EVs) Category, Karen and I have become true believers. After a less than wonderful experience with our Ford Focus Electric, we have been completely seduced by the power and practicality of the Chevy Bolt. It has become our primary car. Our other car, an Audi Allroad, has been collecting dust since the end of ski season.

We use the Bolt for all of our non-ski trips; we do several trips over 350 miles each month; and we did a 1200-mile trip to see the eclipse in Oregon. Even these longer distance trips are no problem for the Bolt.

In fact, we're so convinced about electric, that we don't want to drive anything else. We've been waiting for something to replace the Audi. Sure, there's the Tesla Model X, but aside from the fact that I don't like the looks, and don't see it as matching our outdoorsy lifestyle, I really don't like the price.

So when Audi announced their upcoming e-Tron Quattro, we were intrigued. We put in a placeholder deposit, hoping to get our hands on one before fully committing.

Audi generously invited us to their gala announcement in San Francisco, but since we were planning to be in France, we gave the tickets to some friends who are now thinking about electric.

But, being in France, we had the opportunity to go to the Paris Auto Show. So, in addition to being able to see the Audi e-Tron, we also were able to get a look at many of the new electric models and concept cars from manufacturers around the world.

​Noticeably absent were GM, VW (and their upcoming ID line of electric vehicles), and Volvo (with their XC40 SUV). And while Porsche was there, we were very disappointed not to be able to see their Mission E Cross Turismo, complete with drone. Watch for it in the video!

Our goal was to determine if there was something better than the Audi that might be worth waiting for.

But before getting into practical EVs that we'll see in the next year or two, I have to say the concepts were remarkable.

Concept Cars

The Peugeot E-Legend

By far, the car getting the most attention from the French attendees was the Peugeot E-Legend, pictured above. It's apparently a throwback to the much-beloved Peugeot 504 built in 1969. As of the first public day of the show, nearly 20,000 visitors had promised to buy one if Peugeot produced it. With over 350 miles of range, super fast charging, ridiculous acceleration, and unique styling, Peugeot thinks that this EV represents the Peugeot philosophy - it's not just a great EV, it's a great car.

Most futuristic at the show was Renault. While known for their compact Zoe EV, Renault clearly has some interesting ideas:

Renault autonomous luxury limo

Renault utility/delivery van

​Of course there were supercar concepts too:

Audi PB-18 e-Tron

Mercedes supercar

BMW iX8

Of these, as far as I know, only the Audi has actually seen the light of day. Range is 310 miles, 95kWh battery with 350kW charging capability and 0-60 in just over 2 seconds.

Practical (soon-to-be-available) EVs

Hyundai

Hyundai showed off their new Kona. It brags over 290 miles of range with fast charging up to 100 kW. It reminded us of our Bolt in terms of shape and interior, but it does come with a very nice Nav system (which we really miss on the Bolt).

Hyundai Kona EV

Nice Nav in the Kona

Kia

Kia had several of their new Niro EVs on display. They apparently share much of Hyundai's technology and while there are differences in styling and the interiors, the capabilities of the cars and their batteries are almost identical.

Kia Niro

Kia Niro interior

Renault Zoe

We also looked at the new Renault Zoe with its 40 kWh battery, a dramatic improvement over the 25 kWh battery sold until recently. It's the most popular EV in Europe and Renault has sold about 100,000 of them. Interestingly, several of the models on display had advertisements for driving services in Paris. One even offered rentals of the Zoe. We'd looking forward to being able to rent an electric car on future trips to Europe. Still, the Zoe's 150-mile range doesn't compare to the Bolt, Niro, or Kona. It's max charging rate is 44 kW and that only occurs in a very narrow window of its SOC (State of Charge) - up to about 45% charge. After that it quickly drops off to 20 kW. Still, at about 20,000 euros fully loaded, it's a great first EV.

Renault Zoe

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive (ED)

Other than the picture below and a quick look at the specs, we didn't spend any time with Mercedes' Smart ForTwo. With a range of just 58 miles and a price over $25,000, it just doesn't seem worth it. But they were kind of cute, it comes in a Cabriolet model (the only EV convertible I know of), and I heard a comment that the Smart ForTwo has the best turning radius of any car on the market. So, it's very easy to park. We'll pass.

Cute Smart ForTwo ED - a non-starter for us

But let's get down to it. We didn't come to look at concept cars or Bolt competitors, though after seeing them, we might consider a Niro or a Kona when the lease for our Bolt expires next year. GM, take note - faster charging is important. Please make it available in the 2020 model!

Ultimately, we went to the Paris Auto Show to check out all-wheel drive vehicles that could get us to the snow (and back), replacing our Audi Allroad, so we could be 100% electric.

The Jaguar goes from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, the Porsche in 3.5 seconds, and the others in about 5 seconds. This kind of acceleration is more than we need in an SUV and I have to wonder about all that torque in snowy conditions.

All of the cars have sophisticated battery management systems which will preserve battery life and which should help with charging rates in low temperatures. Audi claims theirs is the best, but we'll know more when the cars are actually on the road in the snow.

Mercedes EQC

Karen loved the seats. She thought they were the most comfortable of any car she'd ever been in. For me, the cockpit was a bit claustrophobic. It didn't feel open and spacious and the tech was a bit run-of-the-mill. Its exterior was nothing special. The EQC also felt big - like a full-sized SUV. But looking at its actual dimensions, it's not much bigger than its competition. Unfortunately, as experienced distance travelers in an EV, the lower charge rates are a concern. Still, it may be worth a test drive to check out the handling.

EQC from the front

Karen in the driver's seat of the EQC

BMW iX3

I think we were most disappointed by the BMW iX3. It was set aside from the other BMWs and was not accessible to visitors. I asked several questions and was told that in two years the car would have the latest - the latest fast charging, the latest battery management, the latest range estimates. In other words, the salespeople had no idea about the specifications. I suspect they were focused on the new 3-series models which had a lot of interest, and just weren't prepared to talk about EVs. It's unlikely we'll look any further at BMW EVs.

BMW iX3

Jaguar i-Pace

Jaguar had several i-Paces on display, some in dramatic colors. The car looks impressive. The only real negatives were the room in the back seat, and the less than state-of-the-art charging speeds. Jaguar is offering test drives of the i-Pace in southern France next week, so with luck, we'll get to try one out. I'll update this blog if we do.

Nice looking i-Pace

i-Pace rear hatch

Karen's knees in the backseat of the i-Pace. Not sure I could have gotten my feet in.

Porsche Mission E Turismo

I have to say that we're completely intrigued by the Mission E Turismo. From all reports, there will be a 2019 model and after seeing the video and looking at the specs, it might be worth waiting for. We spoke with the Porsche rep and he explained that since they showed it at a previous show, they didn't have it in Paris. He had no updates on availability. We'll have to wait and see, but this seems to be a dream car, even if it doesn't actually ship with the drone (see the video).

Porsche Mission E Turismo (not at the Paris Auto Show)

Audi e-Tron

The Audi e-Tron was the main reason we detoured to the Paris Auto Show. It did not disappoint!

The interior was impressive as was the tech. I loved the Nav and the fact that I could get a full Nav screen with directions right in front of me as the driver. There's even a supplemental screen where you can hand-write commands with your finger. The backseat was spacious though since they added a control panel for climate, the seating in the middle is limited. 5 passengers will only fit if the one in the middle is either small, or ready to straddle the console. Aside from that and the fact that it is unlikely that you can fit a spare tire in the back, the car is amazing. The European model has cameras instead of side-view mirrors. Not sure if that will get approved in the States before its launch. The interior is roomy, but the car feels more sleek than its competitors (except, perhaps, for the elusive Porsche). It has variable air suspension that adapts based on speed and even has charging ports on both sides of the car (fast charging on the driver side). Coefficient of drag is second only to the Tesla Model S. Like many of the earlier Audis, you can drop the middle of the back seat to slip your skis through.

Audi e-Tron

Cassandra Crawford from Steven's Creek Audi tells us we'll see the e-Tron by April. In Europe, dealers will be getting theirs in January and first deliveries will start in February. While we wait, we'll check out the alternatives. But at this point, unless Porsche announces a 2019 delivery of the Mission E Cross Turismo at a reasonable price or one of the others surprises us, we'll enthusiastically lease the Audi e-Tron.

As many of you know, especially if you've looked through my France Category, we have a small apartment in an old Basque house in the little village of Guethary, France.

We usually come here twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. We try to avoid the summer when tens of thousands of French and other European tourists descend on this little fishing village of just 1,000 people.

Guethary is located on the Atlantic just a few kilometers from the Spanish border at the foot of the Pyrenees. The village and the surrounding Basque Country (or Pays Basque in French) have become the surf capital of Europe. And for most of the year, the surf is even more crowded than in California.

Still, there is much to do here other than surfing. Water sports abound and include stand-up paddling, white water kayaking, kite surfing, wind surfing, diving, catamaran racing, and many more, but there's also the amazing food, which is a mix of French, country French, Basque, Spanish, and seafood.

Hiking in the Pyrenees and along the rugged coastline is spectacular, and you'll also find golfing, sailing, disc golf, and countless outdoor activities.

The area is rich in history and even prehistory (see my post about a hike into prehistory). And the Basque culture is fascinating. The excellent regional wines rival those of Bordeaux to the north, and ah, did I mention the food?

Our little village of Guethary with the majestic Trois Couronnes in the background.

But in spite of enjoying most of what the area has to offer over the past several years, we were surprised to discover that our little village is now doing a Soap Box Derby every year. The first derby was two years ago and the organizers tried to duplicate the U.S. version with similar rules. There weren't many entrants that year and publicity was limited. We heard about it after the fact. Last year it rained, making the somewhat steep course with two significant curves a bit dangerous. But this year? Well, this year was exceptional.

The race was to start at 2 pm, but the festivities began at 10:30 am. We made our way to the fronton. In the Basque Country, every village has a Pelote Basque (or Jai Alai) court in the center of town called the fronton. Most are adjacent to the town hall. In addition to the dramatic sport of jai alai, these huge courts serve as places for farmers' markets, community shows and exhibitions, and celebrations.

The village and its merchants had set up a bouncy castle along with a miniature driving course for little kids. Several three-year-olds were trying to navigate tiny electric vehicles around the cones with very little success. Parents tried vainly to get their kids to turn the cars, but in general this just resulted in slow-motion collisions and smashed (parents') toes.

There was an exhibit of electric vehicles (cars, scooters, bikes, and skateboards), and of course a large concession area for food and wine.

Young drivers attempting the challenging course on the fronton

The roads through the village were closed to traffic and barriers kept pedestrians and spectators off the streets. Village workers set up inflatable barriers on the curves to protect both the spectators and the drivers from injury during potential crashes. We noticed that they had also attached high quality speakers to the lamp posts along the course.

The course itself starts about 200 yards above the fronton, continues down a very gentle slope to the first curve, then down a much steeper slope to a very tight curve, with the finish line a few hundred feet beyond.

I suspect they eased the rules somewhat this year. Although there were safety and brake checks, since a few of the 'soap boxes' were three-wheelers, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have met international standards for official soap box derby races. And in this case, it wasn't all about the speed of the 'cars'.

Instead, prizes were awarded for most ecological, best decoration, loudest, most crowd pleasing, best costume for the drivers, and of course the fastest car. Here are a few of the racers:

The Octopus

The Tank

The Barrel

The Dog

A Real Soapbox Racer

The Eco (bamboo)

The Guerafy

Chez Renaud

The Saucer

Before the race started, Karen and I made our way to the last curve so that we could see the steep descent, the treacherous turn and the finish. A DJ and an announcer joked around as they played an eclectic mix of rock tunes and eventually got down to calling the race. Most of the racers were adults though there was one group of teen-aged boys (15 years old) and a single girls team who piloted the Eco racer. One of the cars that did well in last year's race died on the speed bump on the steep hill and had to be towed away. But the rest ran the course several times.

After crossing the finish line, ATVs towed the racers back up to the starting line.

​

The Guerafy approaching the finish line

The racing continued all afternoon and the party in the village went late into the evening.

You can pick your favorites for best decorated and for best costume. I liked the Octopus and the Dog. Karen rooted for the girl's team and their Eco racer. And as for fastest time, no one even came close to Chez Renaud, with the Guerafy (the local satirical publication/website) a somewhat distant second. Chez Renaud was also the loudest with its La Cucaracha air horn echoing across all of Guethary and to Bidart, the neighboring village.

It was a great event marking the end of summer and the beginning of the glorious fall season in the Pays Basque.

First, let me state unequivocally that we love our Chevy Bolt. As I've mentioned in previous posts in my EV Category, the Bolt has become our primary vehicle. Unlike many EV owners and most Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) car owners, we have no concerns about taking our EV on longer trips. Last summer, we drove from California to Oregon and back for the eclipse (over 1200 miles), and we regularly do trips of 350 or more miles in a day. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

We chose the Bolt because for us, it was the most practical EV available. In addition to not wanting to pay nearly 6 figures for a Tesla, we needed a car that could carry bikes, surfboards, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, and more. I also needed to be able to park it in remote places without fear of someone vandalizing an expensive car. The Bolt has served us well.

In fact, we are continually amazed by what we can do in the Bolt and its impressive range in a variety of road conditions. On our trip to Oregon for the eclipse, driving at 75-80 miles per hour for most of it, we averaged nearly 3.9 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh). That's 238 miles of range at highway speeds even with the AC set to 70 degrees and hundred-degree temperatures in the Sacramento Valley.

Those longer trips I mentioned? At least twice a month, we make a trip to our place in the Sierra Nevada, mostly at 70+ mph, and amazingly, we average at least 4 mi/kWh. This is with two adults, a full-sized spare tire, jack, etc., and sports toys. And again, we run the AC through the heat of the Central Valley. We see similar results on our trips to the North Bay (100 miles each way). So what am I complaining about?

Well, there is one other trip that we do at least once a month. We drive from Santa Cruz, California to San Luis Obispo, California. It's about 175 miles each way and we do it in a day, charging a bit over an hour at an EVgo station in San Luis during our meeting there. There is a sizable hill (1500 feet) just outside of San Luis, but the net altitude difference between Santa Cruz and San Luis is less than 300 feet (Santa Cruz is at sea level).

Even in winter, it's a stretch to get near 4 mi/kWh. We come close, but I attribute the lower range to the road surface which is largely concrete and isn't in the best of shape. Still, we have no concerns whatsoever making this round trip with just a charge in San Luis.

Our real problem strikes in the late spring and summer. Getting down to San Luis isn't a problem but the return is sometime touch and go, even though it's mostly downhill. So what's the problem?

Wind!

In the late spring and summer, the ocean is cool and the land is warm. Often it can be in the low 60s in Santa Cruz, and well over 100 just a few miles inland. This temperature difference creates wind. Worse for us, the Salinas Valley, through which we have to travel for this trip, has mountains on each side, creating a wind tunnel/venturi effect. We're often facing 40+ mph headwinds on our return.

A lot has been written about how speed affects the range of EVs, and gas mileage for ICE cars: the aerodynamic resistance increases by the square of the velocity. And while the Bolt has a somewhat respectable coefficient of drag (Cd) at about .31, when we try to drive 65 mph against a 40 mph headwind, our efficiency drops to 2 - 2.5 mi/kWh. With a 60 kWh battery, that means our range drops to between 120 and 150 miles.

So, while we were confident that with our Bolt purchase (actually a lease), range anxiety was a thing of the past, for this trip, it's back.

Our return this past Wednesday was rough. We lucked out after climbing the 1500' Cuesta Grade where we first encountered the wind and saw our efficiency drop to 2.5 mi/kWh (even slightly downhill). Ahead of us was an mCoach and it was driving 65 mph. I pulled in behind, and our mi/kWh went up to 4.5! We followed it for about 40 miles, but the driver got annoyed (sorry about that!) and forced me to pass him by pulling in front of a truck and slowing down, leaving me no room to pull in behind. I passed and slowed to 60 mph, but we were still down to 2 mi/kWh against a crazy headwind.

At King City, the half-way point, we decided to stop to charge at the Chargepoint there to provide a comfortable buffer. But as often seems to happen with Chargepoint level 3 stations, it was down. I called and they opened a ticket.

We nervously pulled back onto 101 for the worst of the wind. Dust storms surrounded us from King City to Salinas. Again, we lucked out. I pulled in behind a large semi, and followed at a sedate 55-60 mph. Ultimately, we made it home in the orange with very little left on the battery, and less than 20 miles on the GOM.

So, after a year and a half driving the Bolt, I can honestly say that our only real disappointment is its performance against a headwind. To some degree, I find it hard to believe that it has a Cd of less than .31; a headwind severely impacts range.

And while I'd certainly like to see a Nav system on the Bolt since we often drive where there is no cell service, if GM is listening, it would be very nice to see an improvement in Cd. Not only would it help out in situations like ours, I'm sure it would significantly increase the already remarkable range of the Chevy Bolt.

​Since the Bolt is already strong on tech and has surround cameras in the Premier model, maybe GM could remove the side-view mirrors like Audi is doing in the European version of their eTron Quattro which ships in the fall.

If you've read any of my novels, you've met characters who are the sons or daughters of military personnel. Needless to say, you also probably noticed that they are a bit different from the so-called average people you might meet elsewhere.

​In person, particularly for brief encounters, you may not recognize how abnormal they may be. But if you take the time to get to know them, assuming they let you in to do so, you'll find them quite unique. They suffer from what I call The Military Brat Syndrome.

I note that this affliction doesn't just affect children of military personnel. You will find many of the same issues in children of diplomats, and children of parents who frequently moved from place to place.

Imagine if you will a child raised in a non-military family. Over the course of their child-rearing years, the family may change homes few times within a small geographic area. But more likely for the largest part of our country and others, 'normal' kids may grow up in the same house until they leave as adults. In the course of their youth, they develop friends from an early age, many of whom are still friends when they become adults. Their family usually extends to nearby grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and often their parents' friends become almost like family members.

These children usually have extended support systems - family and friends who encourage them in social activities. They often stay in touch with favorite teachers, and they have a strong sense of community.

We military brats don't have any of that. In my case, I attended fifteen schools before graduating high school. Every time I made friends, it would be time to move. In those days before email, social media, and unlimited calling plans, it was difficult to stay in touch. We tried a few times, but with long waits for responses and the fact that our friends were moving too, it proved impossible for most of us.

Obviously, we didn't develop a sense of community, and moving as much as we did, it was hard to get close to extended family who we usually saw briefly only when relocating - if we happened to be passing through.

On the other hand, most of us learned a lot about other cultures. If we moved internationally, we lived in countries with different languages and customs.

Moving again and again, even within the US, sometimes created culture shock. As one example, I lived in Hawaii where my best friend was black. He and I were both considered Haoles by the locals who seemed to get their kicks out of beating up 'outsiders'. We watched each other's back. But then my family relocated to the deep south where my dancing with a black girl caused major outrage at the teen club. This was a real wake-up call for a young teenager.

At home, discipline and respect for authority was the rule. My father followed orders at work, so I followed orders at home. Not to do so invited painful consequences.

Of course, there are many benefits to being a military brat:

Acceptance of radical life changes

Tolerance of different people, cultures and lifestyles

The ability to get along with most anyone

The discipline to take on new challenges

These are the things we present to the outside world. Many of us are considered successful. But the real effects of The Military Brat Syndrome are insidious:

The need for regular radical change: In my case, it was romantic relationships. No matter how perfect my relationship with my partner was, after two to three years, I needed a change. And obviously if things got difficult in any relationship, job, or living situation, why not just move on?

In spite of a desire to fit in to a community, the inability to do so. You feel like you're always an outsider who doesn't have the long term friendships or relationships that would make you a part of a community.

Similarly, with an almost overwhelming desire to have a close extended family, the inability to really get close. You were patterned to expect relationships to end. It's hard to believe that they might last.

A need to escape: it could be unjustified change, drugs or alcohol, or obsession with sports or careers - many of us can't help running away from our friends, family, jobs, and partners.

The bottom line cause? You always feel like an outsider looking in.

​What was the safe place in Monopoly? Just Visiting!

So what can you do about it? How do you stop suffering from The Military Brat Syndrome?

For military brats, first and foremost, you need to recognize your patterns of behavior and understand their roots. Then you can make a conscious effort to change. I did that with relationships. After recognizing my pattern of ending them for no reason, I decided not to run at the first hiccup.

Counseling might help, but most counselors are not military brats, so it's unlikely they can truly understand just how deep these patterned behaviors go.

For family, friends, and employers, again, recognizing the military brat syndrome is critical. At that point, you can try to be a bit more patient, refuse to let the military brat just run, and encourage them to begin to believe and trust that some things can be permanent.

Because ultimately, that's what it's about: TRUST. When, from the time you were born until you left home, you've been raised to expect radical life changes - loss of friends, loss of community, loss of places you might love, and having to start over every two years, it's hard to trust that anything is permanent.

But it can be done. Unfortunately, because we don't recognize it early on, it often takes decades to overcome The Military Brat Syndrome.

I have quite a few friends who are doctors. Most are around my age and they've done quite well for themselves financially. They have the lifestyles they wanted, and if they work at all, they choose when. Some have built small empires and have joined what most of us would think of as the truly wealthy.

When I was growing up, becoming a doctor was the ultimate path to success, if you were good enough. Getting into medical school was challenging, surviving medical school was harder, and according to everyone I know, residency was true hell.

But if you made it through the gauntlet, you were guaranteed success in every sense of the word: financially, socially, and making the world a better place. And as I've described before, doctors constitute a significant percentage of angel investors in startups, so even after the contributions in their careers, many continue to pay back for their success.

If you ask doctors of my generation if you should go through medical school and become a physician, they'll give you a resounding yes. They'll promise that all of the upfront challenges will be more than worth it. And, they'll point to their own success.

Unfortunately, things have changed.

I've added this blog post to my Startups category because I wanted to look at the new challenges of becoming a 'successful' doctor from a business perspective. Many people entering medicine do so not just as a way to achieve financial independence, but often also from an altruistic desire to help others. In my mind, you really are a success if you can do both.

So what's different now?

Well, you still have to get into medical school - no small feat. You still have to survive it - I don't think that's changed much either. And, you still have to make it through residency, working ridiculous hours on very little sleep and endure what seems to be hazing by older residents and attending physicians who propagate the torture because if they suffered, you should too.

So, again, what's different?

Let's look at how a new physician starts a career. In general, there are two choices: 1) go to work for a medical group or hospital, or 2) open your own practice.

In the 'old' days, these were two viable choices. But no more. In my surveys, the average new physician starts her/his career with at least $250,000 in student loan debt and it can be much more than that if they go into a specialty that requires more education and longer residencies. Several years ago, Ben Bernanke (former Fed chair) remarked in an interview about student loan debt that his son would exit medical school with over $400,000 in debt. That was several years ago. Medical school costs have skyrocketed since.

Most of these new physicians are in their 30s, sometimes in their late 30s (again if they sought a specialty). If they married before or during medical school and residency, there's a good chance they divorced. Medical school and residency are hard on relationships. Because of this, many physicians wait to marry and they often marry other physicians. I know several couples who finished their residencies in their mid to late 30s and are now saddled with over $500,000 in combined debt.

But that's okay, right? They're going to make a fortune. Well, not so much.

Starting a practice right out of residency while carrying and trying to service medical school debt has become much more difficult than it used to be. Sources of financing for these startups are generally unavailable. And with the debt load, it's virtually impossible for new physicians to come up with startup funds and then generate enough cash flow to live on while they try to bootstrap a practice. So for the vast majority, this idea of starting your own practice fresh out of residency is no longer a viable choice. That means you need to get started in with a medical group or hospital. Not a bad choice, right? You'll gain experience. You'll make a good salary. And many of these groups will help pay for your student loans.

Sounds like a great place for a career or perhaps it could be a jumping off point for starting your own practice.

The reality is a bit different. I'll just hit on a few points. Larger medical organizations are businesses. Years ago, most businesses provided a second home for their employees. You could start a career and work towards retirement with health insurance, vacation, and other benefits guaranteed. If you worked hard, you'd be promoted, you'd earn a good living, and your job would be secure. That's changed in virtually all of our industries, and the medical industry is no different.

In many ways, the medical industry is worse. If you've followed the posts in my Startups category, you know that I have very strong feelings about business models that motivate and reward employees. If you look around, you'll see that just as mergers and acquisitions have created huge corporations in most industries, there are now fewer and fewer medical/hospital groups as they too become giant enterprises. In tech, some companies have worked to leverage their size to ensure the best environments for their expensive talent. They provide flexibility to ensure creativity. Not so with the medical industry. Arguably, the talent there (physicians) is even more valuable and more expensive than what we see in tech. So what does employment look like?

I was shocked to discover that in spite of what appear to be contractual promises to the contrary, most of these groups have moved to a model where a physician's pay is 100% incentive based. It didn't start out that way. Medical groups wanted to provide incentives for physicians to spend their time on procedures that produced the most revenue, so they took a portion of the physician's pay and designated it as incentive-based based on Relative Value Units (RVUs).

RVUs were originally developed as a mechanism to determine the relative value of medical procedures against each other. This enabled insurance companies, and in particular, Medicare to standardize the definitions of the procedures themselves. It made sense. It even made some sense to provide incentives to physicians. But now, it's gone too far.

Physicians are often now paid based on the number of RVUs they log. If they go beyond what is expected, they get a bonus. If they fall below, their compensation is reduced.

One problem with this approach is that the physician has very little control over which patients are seen or what procedures need to be performed. Scheduling is out of their hands as is the amount of time they are permitted to spend with a patient. Add in the disincentive to spend time with a patient that needs more help but whose visit will generate fewer RVUs, and you get a physician who becomes frustrated that s/he can't deliver the necessary care, and patients who don't get the best care possible.

Worse, the number of 'expected' RVUs changes every year. If the group of physicians does well with their RVUs, the expectation is raised. After a few years, as the required RVUs climb, physicians are doomed to miss the targets. This model guarantees failure. And that's not just from a financial point of view, it's also a question of the quality of patient care, and of the physician's motivation.

But it's even worse. If a physician takes vacation, s/he is not accumulating RVUs and those 'lost' RVUs are impossible to make up. So, physicians avoid vacations.

And what about the new reporting requirements - physicians are required to fill out Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) documenting each visit, procedure, etc. Do you think they get paid for that? Not a chance. Since they're only paid for RVUs, that work is done on their own time.

All of the young physicians I know who are working for medical groups are stressed to the extreme. Those that are making their quotas in RVUs know that it's just a matter of time before they can't do it anymore. But they're making the big bucks, right? Well, in the words of an urgent care physician I interviewed, "With the student loans and the current compensation structure, doctors are now blue collar workers."

And you know, there's no way out. They can't just quit. The student loan debt hangs over their heads. Loan forgiveness in bankruptcy isn't generally granted to someone who could earn six figures. Unfortunately, the only way they can earn it is to work as a physician. There's no way out.

If you really don't think it's that bad, take a look at suicide statistics for physicians. They're more than double those of the general population. Between the stress caused by lack of control of their work, the stress of trying to repay medical school debts, and the stress of knowing they can't quit, and the lack of vacation time, it's not like it was for the physicians that came before them.

Sure. Some make it. Some do manage to get their own practices started. But unfortunately, it's not as easy as it was years ago. Physicians get no training in how to start a practice. And with the new reporting requirements, complex coding for insurance, and dealing with insurance companies who deny first, starting a new practice is a herculean task, worse for a new physician.

If you're thinking of embarking on a career as a physician, think twice. Don't just listen to the physicians of your parents' generation. Make sure you talk to younger residents and attending physicians. Then, at least your expectations will be properly set.

If you saw my blog titled The Impact of Jury Duty after an 8-week Criminal Trial, you know that I had planned to write a novel about the experience. In particular, I wanted to recount the story of the trial from the jurors' perspectives and to show how they suffered through the emotional stress of the trial itself and what was for many, post trial stress disorder.

As the trial began, I was well underway writing a novel called The Misogynist. It's a psychological thriller that includes internet bad guys, a vigilante with a desire to take revenge on manipulative women, a woman psychiatrist who's treating a schizophrenic and another patient who suffers from Borderline Personality, and of course, an intrepid reporter who has to put it all together. I'd written about 50 pages, which let me introduce the main characters, and I had outlined the rest, including countless twists and turns and misdirections.

I put that on hold because the trial hit me really hard. I just didn't have the necessary energy to continue writing after leaving jury duty for the day. My sleep was disrupted with violent nightmares where I'd often wake up screaming, and during my free time, I couldn't get my mind off the trial. Once the trial was over, in some ways it got worse. I won't go into why. So, I figured the best way to purge myself of this obsession would be to write a novel about the experience. But as I mentioned above, I wanted to take a different approach.

There are lots of books and movies about trials. But most, if not all, seem to focus on the victim, the accused, the attorneys, or the case itself. This one, which I'm calling The 15th Juror, would provide a completely different point of view.

I worked with the court to get thousands of pages of the trial transcripts. That, in itself, was more complicated than I'd imagined. And then, as I started writing, I read all of the transcripts in detail. Some of it was very interesting because they included discussions between the judge and the attorneys that took place out of the presence of the jury. There's some juicy stuff there.

This time though, I deviated from my regular writing process.

As strange as it sounds, I don't normally have 'first drafts'. Sure, my first pass needs editing, primarily to catch typos and unfortunate wording. But in each book I've written thus far, I've done the upfront work to flesh out the characters and their motivations, the locations, and virtually every plot twist, along with all the devices I'm going to use (and at which points) to keep the reader involved and ready to turn the next page (as best I can). In other words, by the time I finish my first pass, the book is pretty close to done.

This one was different. I had rough sketches of the jurors (not full portraits), and I had the transcripts. I wanted to stay faithful to the trial and to some degree make the reader feel the impact of the length of the trial. But I didn't really think about my readers.

And so, here I am after 8 months of work. The writing was difficult, and going through the transcripts was even more challenging. I knew it was going to be a real first draft when I started writing, but now, I actually have a first draft in front of me, and it sucks!

It's not that the writing is terrible or that the story is bad, but the fact is, the story just doesn't grab you.

So what am I going to do?

Well, one of the writers' groups I follow regularly posts some variation on "A first draft is like throwing sand in a sandbox from which you'll later build castles." Yeah, right! That's little consolation when you've got 300 pages of sand to deal with.

Other forums suggest that you walk away from your first draft for at least a month.

Okay! I can do that.

In the meantime, I'm back to The Misogynist. And I've got to say, it's a lot of fun. I love laying out subtle clues and misdirecting my reader with personality quirks and events that aren't quite what they seem. I'm writing at a nearly frenetic pace since after 8 months slogging through The 15th Juror, writing The Misogynist is easy. That novel was fully thought out.

And now that I think about it, I recognize that the critical difference between the two books is that with each sentence I write now, I'm focused on the readers (and how I'm going to lead them astray). It's fun! Unfortunately, I didn't do that with The 15th Juror.

So as far as the first draft of The 15th Juror is concerned, I'm just walking away.

I will regain my confidence by writing something I really love. And with luck, in a month or so, I'll come back to The 15th Juror with a fresh perspective and will find a way to take a box full of sand, and build castles.

Karen's son Victor and his wife Lee Ann were invited to a medical conference in Barcelona. Their flight arrived the eve of October 1st, 2017. For those of you who don't know the significance of that date, this was the day that Catalonia, the northeastern-most province of Spain, voted to secede from Spain. There were violent demonstrations, clashes with police and the Guardia Civil, and general strikes as Spain tried to stop the vote. Fortunately, Victor and Lee Ann caught a pre-dawn flight to San Sebastian to spend a few days with us in the Basque country of France before we drove them back to Barcelona for the conference. We hoped things would settle down by then.

After two weeks of gorgeous weather here in the Pays Basque, that Sunday morning dawned cool, cloudy and drizzly. Of course! I had told them not to bring rain gear since the forecast was for continued beautiful weather. Luckily, they were wise enough to ignore my advice. We had reserved a room for them in a hotel near our apartment with spectacular ocean views and views of the Trois Couronnes and La Rhune. I think they caught a brief glimpse of the Pyrenees just before they left.

After we showed them around our little village, they took a quick jet-lagged induced nap before we headed for dinner at the always wonderful Txamarra near the port and Les Alcyons here in Guethary.

We had originally planned to take them to the Guggenheim in Bilbao on Tuesday, but with heavy rain forecast, we decided to visit Bilbao on Monday in spite of the fact that the museum was closed. Actually, it wasn't so much Bilbao they wanted to see, it was San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. They're both Game of Thrones fanatics and wanted to see the location that was a big part of this past season.

The famous flowered dog at the entrance to the Guggenheim.

A scary spider wandering the grounds.

A sculpture behind the museum.

View of the Guggenheim and Bilbao from a nearby bridge.

After touring the outside of the museum, we walked along the river and found a nice bar for lunch. Then we made our way to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe for the arduous hike from the mainland to the island and then back. We had warned them that the hermitage at the top was not Dragonstone; that Dragonstone was a CGI enhancement. But even with the missing castle, they appreciated the beauty of this part of the Spanish coastline. See my previous post on San Juan de Gaztelugatxe for more.

As the rain broke up on Tuesday, we did a hike along the Sentier Littoral into Saint Jean de Luz and back. Wednesday morning, it was raining again but it started to clear a bit by the afternoon, so we decided to show them a bit of Biarritz on their last day in the the Pays Basque. We walked along the Grande Plage, then made our way to Rocher de la Vierge.

With the sun finally out, we caught the sunset (but no green flash) just before dinner at Tantina de la Playa in Bidart. Victor commented that it was one of the best meals he'd ever had.

Biarrritz from the path approaching Rocher de la Vierge.

Victor and Lee Ann on the bridge to Rocher de la Vierge.

Finally a sunset - taken above Tantina de la Playa with Guethary and Les Trois Couronnes in the background.

Thursday morning we got up early for our drive to Barcelona. From everything we had read and heard on the news, things were relatively calm there. Still, we were a bit nervous.

We headed south and followed the Bidasoa river as we entered Spain. Karen and I have gone stand up paddling in its spectacular river canyon just below the French village of Biriatou. We'd occasionally caught sight of a highway far above us, but this was the first time we'd driven along the river that serves as the border between France and Spain near the Basque coast.

As we reached the south side of the Pyrenees, the terrain and weather changed. Low clouds and drizzle gave way to sunshine, and the lush green of the Basque coast became dry high plains, much like you'd see in eastern Colorado or Wyoming.

We skirted Pamplona, and continued through the uniformly flat and dry plains on our way to Zaragoza, Victor's birthplace. Karen, her children, and their father spend four years there as part of an Air Force assignment nearly forty years ago. Karen wanted to visit their former home and see how the city had changed. Of course, it's much bigger now. The population was 150,000 when they lived there and is now nearly 700,000.

The cathedral where Karen's daughter Sabrina was baptized.

Entering the grand plaza in front of the spectacular cathedral downtown, we discovered a pro-Spain Unity demonstration just breaking up. In spite of major police, army, Guardia Civil, and ambulance presence, it was apparently a peaceful demonstration.

We strolled the plaza and then had an excellent lunch at Asador La Forja, not far from the Cathedral.

After lunch we managed to find their former home, but not after a bit of confusion because they'd changed the house numbers on the street. The home is located in a well-developed area of walled and gated homes which now includes elegant hotels and apartments nearby. Apparently the surrounding areas were quite rural years before.

We got back on the road heading east and three hours later faced tremendous traffic jams as we entered downtown Barcelona.

After checking into our hotel, not far from the conference center, we made our way down the Carrer de Blai, a pedestrian mall with dozens of excellent restaurants. We picked Boca Oreja (word of mouth) and had a sumptuous meal that began with my first patatas bravas (roasted potatoes with a mayonnaise and pepper sauce) and included the best octopus dish I've ever eaten.

Over the next few days, we visited many of the tourist sites in Barcelona - the Palau National art museum with its commanding views of the city, the botanical gardens, the Gothic quarter, the Picasso Museum - if ever you had a doubt about Picasso being a genius, just check out some of the work he did as a young teenager - and countless other places that we could reach on foot. We also encountered some demonstrations - crowded but peaceful. Of course that would change soon after our departure from Barcelona.​

Looking down at Barcelona and the fountains from the Palau National.

Demonstrators for 'dialogue' heading to the Parliament building.

Sunset from the Palau National.

We also found some notable restaurants: the Juice House with great organic and vegetarian dishes - super lunch; Mino in the Gothic quarter where I had my first paella - loaded with scallops and seafood; and the Restaurant Amfora where we had a grilled vegetable appetizer followed by sea bass smothered in cepes (exotic mushrooms now in season in Europe).

​Before leaving Barcelona on Sunday, we had to see some of the Gaudi architecture. Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia. They began construction on this somewhat bizarre basilica in the 1880s and don't expect to complete it until 2026, the hundredth anniversary of Gaudi's death.

From there, we made our way to Park Guell, a fantastic park designed by Gaudi with unusual buildings, exotic structures, and great views of the city. Unfortunately, to get into most of the buildings and the most exotic parts of the park, you need to reserve (and pay) several days in advance, so we just toured this magical place.​

Sangrada Familia.

A tunnel in the Park Guell.

Sangrada Familia construction.

One of the entrances to the Park Guell.

After strolling through the park, we dropped Victor and Lee Ann at the airport and started our six-hour drive back to Guethary. This time we decided to cross the high Pyrenees on a 'new' road. The somewhat mundane, barren flatlands of the Spanish plains gave way to rolling hills as we approached the Pyrenees. We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Yequeda and had a superb meal at the Hotel Fetra. ​

View into the garden from the dining room at the Hotel Fetra.

Winding through the south side of the Pyrenees.

Winding up into the Pyrenees, the south side was mostly dry and treeless. We passed through many tunnels, but I wasn't prepared for the 8 kilometer (5 mile) long Somport tunnel that joins Spain to France.

Exiting the tunnel, we found ourselves at 5300 feet of altitude in lush green France. The trip back to Guethary was uneventful but much more scenic than northern Spain. ​

Beginning of the descent from the Somport Tunnel into France.

Back to lush, green France!

There's apparently some controversy surrounding this pass through the Pyrenees. Spain is extending their Autoroute/Toll Roads in Spain to climb up the Spanish side of the pass into the Tunnel. But on the other side, as you can see above, the road narrows.

Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Barcelona. The politics are interesting if unstable. My personal belief, as a relatively uninformed foreigner, is that the independence movement was an attempt to negotiate to regain the autonomy that Catalonia experienced several years ago, to become an autonomous region within Spain, much like the Basque region is now.

From what I can see, Catalonia could never have stood on its own economically. They could never have become part of the EU and since most of their revenues come from Spain, losing that income with a separation could be fatal to the region. Unfortunately, it was a tough game of cat and mouse and as I write this, it's not looking good for Catalonia. Carles Puigdemont is under arrest in Belgium and Spain has charged him and his associates with treason. There is a lot of support for Catalonia's independence or perhaps autonomy here in the Pays Basque with demonstrations today. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail before something disastrous happens.

We're about to head back to France and I realize that I neglected to do a post on our stop in southern Brittany from our last trip. Hopefully you saw my post on Spectacular Northern Brittany. That was our destination for the trip. But since it was more than a seven-hour drive from our place in the Pays Basque, we decided to spend a couple of days in Damgan, a small village on the southern coast of Brittany not far from the medieval town of Vannes. With my fascination for Celtic prehistory, I was hoping to see the Ile-aux-moines and the nearby Cairn at Gavrinis.

We picked the village of Damgan because Sylvianne, a good friend from Karen's Santa Cruz Speaks French Meetup, lives there. We stayed at the Hotel de la Plage which sits just across a quiet one-way street from the beach. Each room has spectacular ocean views of the coast to the south. We dined with Sylvianne at the amazing Latitude 47 restaurant in the hotel, so named because the hotel is located at that latitude as are two other places the owner had lived, Quebec City in Canada, and Budapest in Hungary.

Aerial view of the back bay of Damgan borrowed from the Damgan tourism site.

The next morning we drove around the medieval city of Vannes to catch the boat to the Ile-aux-moines (the monks' island) in the Gulf of Morbihan. The bay itself is spectacular featuring hundreds of islands, many with prehistorical sites.

Arriving on the island after the 5-minute boat ride, we rented bikes and started touring. The island is small, only about 4 miles long and a mile and a half wide, easily covered in a day on a bike. Our trip into prehistory began with a stop on the way out of the village at a famous cromlech. If you recall from my previous posts, a cromlech is a circle of stones (like the more famous Stonehenge). They appear to have had some religious, probably funereal significance to the ancient Celts, but no one knows for sure. While almost all the cromlechs found in Europe are circular, those in Brittany are not. This one was very large and oblong with a central stone (called a menhir) named Le Moine (the monk) as its focal point. We arrived at Le Moine to find several people lying at its base trying to receive the energy from the stone. This may sound a bit strange, but when you visit Brittany, especially the more remote parts of the granite-lined coast, you really do get an almost spiritual sense of 'groundedness' and permanence. But back to the Ile-aux-moines.

The Gulf of Morbihan.

The large irregular cromlech.

One of several dolmens on the island.

Le Moine.

After visiting the small museum, we continued south towards the far end of the island where we visited one of the larger dolmens - an ancient burial tomb. We spent the day exploring the remote beaches on the island, often leaving our bikes to hike beautiful single-track trails around the island. In addition to the dolmens and cromlechs, there are also ancient springs/wells. Apparently there is an underground river on this tiny island.

Returning to Damgan, we showered and met Sylvianne who took us on a walking tour of the village of Damgan. The next morning we went to the medieval walled city of Vannes.

Setting up for a book fair in the gardens surrounding the city.

Apartments for sale in the walls of the fortified city.

Vannes was founded during the Roman conquest in about 56 BC. It became a fortified Christian city around the 3rd century. Its imposing cathedral and walls dominate the Gulf of Morbihan and what was once a moat around the city is now filled with ornate gardens. We walked the walls of the city, visited the cathedral and several art galleries, then made our way to the boat launch for the 15-minute ride to visit the Cairn de Gavrinis.

Cairn de Gavrinis.

Carvings in the Cairn (image borrowed from the tourism site).

Similar to the Cairn de Barnenez described in my previous Spectacular Northern Brittany post, the Cairn de Gavrinis is about a 1000 years more recent. It's estimated that it was built around 3500 BC, still well before the pyramids of Egypt. What makes this Cairn unique are the intricate carvings which line its interior.

The trip to the island is a bit expensive, and in peak seasons, you need to make reservations, but it's worth it.

The next day, we made our way to our ultimate destination in the north of Brittany.

If we've learned anything about Brittany, it's that there is huge variation in the climate, terrain, and even the culture. From the warm sunny beaches Morbihan in the south, to the stark, austerity of Finistere, to the striking beauty of the northern coastline of the Cotes d'Amor, Brittany is a region of great contrasts that you don't want to miss.

Two things before you start reading: 1) The photo at left is by Ted Hesser a photographer from the Bay Area who was brilliant in positioning himself for this memorable shot. Check out his photos at his site. 2) This post is not about the eclipse. It's about how the Bolt performed on our first truly significant trip (well beyond the 400 miles we often drive in a day).

If you've read my previous posts on the #BoltEV in my Electric Vehicles category, you know that we regularly take what most people would consider long trips for an electric vehicle (EV). But a trip from Santa Cruz to Oregon for the eclipse would be well over 1200 miles. We had confidence in the Bolt, and we'd read Harvey Payne's account of his trip from southern California to Oregon posted in the Facebook Chevy Bolt Owner's Group forum. That gave us a big leg up.

However, we wanted to be prepared. We used Plugshare to lay out the trip and where we would need to charge, along with alternates in case a station was occupied or not working. We decided that for this trip we'd be conservative and not push the range of the Bolt. Personally, I was a bit worried about the drive over Siskiyou Summit, especially for the trip back where you climb from Ashland to the summit in about 10 very steep miles. The charging plan was step one in our preparations.

During one of our regular 175-mile drives to our place in the Sierra, I narrowly avoided hitting a sharp piece of scrap metal on highway 580 going down Altamont Pass. Unfortunately, several other vehicles were on the side of the road with blown-out tires. We decided then and there, as we looked at the 110 degree temperature outside, that we didn't want to take a chance on flat in the middle of the desert in eastern Oregon. So, we bought a full-sized spare for the Bolt.

Full-sized spare wheel and tire

And it fits under the back cover

As you can see from the photos above, it fits nicely (deflated a bit) in the space in the back under the removable cover. And, it provides a nice place to store our portable EVSE and J1772 extension cable with space left for the lug wrench, jack, compressor, and our disc golf equipment.

We packed food and emergency supplies and were ready for our Bolt's longest trip.

Just before leaving, a contractor contacted us to say he could start work on the decks at our place in the mountains, so we decided to head up there before making our way to Oregon. As usual, our 175-mile drive in the Bolt was uneventful. Even with the 4000' altitude gain - we averaged over 4 mi/kWh.

As often happens, the contractor didn't show. We took advantage of his absence to continue up to Kirkwood for some disc golf among the seemingly infinite fields of wild flowers. ​

Wildflowers in a Kirkwood disc golf fairway

Karen's second shot after landing in a creek

The next day we left our place in the Sierra fully charged and found ourselves caught in Sacramento traffic. We stopped in Corning to get a bit of a bump before continuing the 100 miles to Yaks in Dunsmuir for lunch and a charge. Next stop Ashland where, based on Harvey Payne's recommendation, we'd spend the night at The Palm Cottages and take advantage of their free charging. Since I-97 has no fast charging stations, very few J1772 stations, and with eclipse traffic, we knew that all campgrounds were full (no available connections for our NEMA 14-50 EVSE), we decided to meet Karen's daughter and son-in-law in Eugene (instead of going directly to Bend) where we could plug our EVSE into their dryer outlet overnight before heading over to Bend, an easy 130 miles away.

The trip from Ashland to Eugene was uneventful and the next morning we drove through the rolling hills/mountains of southern Oregon on our 180-mile final leg to Eugene. In addition to the charging advantages, this detour gave us a chance to dine at the always amazing Rye on 3rd in Eugene, where we started with the Poutine (a decadent Canadian dish composed of French fries topped with duck confit and cheese), and ended with their house made chocolates paired with whiskies - mine was dark chocolate caramel paired with W.L. Weller special reserve.

But I diverge...

Karen had the brilliant idea to track our kwH usage between fast charging stations (or their exits if we didn't stop) and other key landmarks that we passed to help others better plan their trips along I-5 over Siskiyou Summit, and to show us exactly how much, and when, we needed to charge on future trips. Here are the stats for Sacramento to Eugene and Eugene to Santa Cruz. ​

The idea is that you can look at distances between charging stations, look at how many kWh remain in your battery, and then decide where you want to stop to charge.

To put this into perspective, we had two people in the Bolt plus the spare wheel and provisions and toys for our trip. We drive at roughly 5 mph over the speed limit on highways in California (at the speed limit elsewhere), and pretty much right on the speed limit everywhere in Oregon.

Fair warning, although our trip up to Eugene was completely uneventful, our trip back wasn't (note the detour to Chico). On the way back after a full charge using the dryer outlet, we spent the night in Ashland again, and anticipated topping up at Yaks in Dunsmuir, thinking we could make it 211 miles (with a lot of downhill) to the EVgo charger in the Vacaville outlet mall, and then home - just 3 stops total for the trip from Eugene to Santa Cruz. But, as we found out, Yak's charger is powered off when they're closed (we should have paid attention to the station hours). No problem, right? We'll just charge at the Olive Pit in Corning and have lunch there.

No such luck. While the Olive Pit charger worked on our way up, it was down on our way back. We called Chargepoint and worked with them for a good half hour to no avail. James, the Olive Pit owner came out to try to help, but no luck. He had some serious complaints about Chargepoint service, but then told us he was still planning to add a new, higher kW charger next to the current one. He's a great guy who's looking at purchasing an EV himself, so stop by the Olive Pit if you're passing to thank him for the charging stations and his support of EVs.

With Corning down, we thought we'd just have to make it the 50 miles to Williams to charge at the Carl's Jr. there, but it wasn't showing up on Plugshare (I had the 'available' filter on). I called Chargepoint, and they admitted that Williams was down too. I asked about the one in Redding (thinking we might backtrack), and apparently it was flaky - three charging stations, each over 50 miles apart that were down! That could give anyone range anxiety.

But fortunately, Harvey Payne had mentioned the solar-powered, free charging station at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico. Quite frankly, the detour was worth it because of the superb lunch we had there. We charged for a bit over an hour, drove to Vacaville, charged for a bit less than an hour and raced home to Santa Cruz using our new (free for EVs) FastPass Express Lane pass to bypass most of the Bay Area commute traffic.

We learned a lot on this trip. First and foremost, the Bolt continues to surprise us with its range. Using the numbers we charted, it's clear we can optimize our charge times on future trips. Next, although we did plot alternative stations, we didn't anticipate 3 successive stations being down by double checking availability. And, we didn't pay attention to station operating hours. Had we done that, we'd have left Ashland later, charged at Yaks over lunch, then only at Vacaville to make it home. And finally, I'm beginning to change the opinion I expressed about whether a Bolt can be your primary vehicle. The Bolt is our primary vehicle. Our Audi has been collecting dust since the end of ski season. Once there's an affordable all-wheel electric with the Bolt's range, we'll trade in the Audi and will go all-electric.

A last story about the eclipse for those of you who didn't go.

According to our friends and relatives in Oregon, the news had been warning about the Apoceclipse - they said that because of millions of anticipated eclipse visitors, there would be food and gas shortages along with crippling traffic jams. We did know that all hotels, rentals, and campgrounds were full, so it seemed somewhat plausible.

But on the Friday before the eclipse, we drove over highway 58 from Eugene to Bend where we had rented an AirBnB (about 130 miles) and there was no traffic at all. We pulled into Crux, our son-in-law's favorite Bend brewery. We'd eaten there before and they have a great menu. Unfortunately, when the menus came, there were only a few items on it. We asked the server about our missing favorites and she said they would return on Monday. Because of the forecast Apoceclipse, they, along with most restaurants in Bend, had reduced their menus to the minimum so that they could more quickly prepare food for the predicted crowds. Unfortunately, those crowds never materialized. It seemed like a normal summer weekend in Bend.

On the day of the eclipse, we drove up to a place in the desert to the east of Madras where we experienced 2 minutes of totality. If you want what I think is a good account of a total eclipse, read my first novel The Silicon Lathe. In it, I describe the awe of a 7-minute total eclipse.

On our way back to Bend, we detoured a couple of miles to visit stunning Smith Rock (in the picture above) for a short hike. Upon returning to Bend, we munched appetizers and sipped cool drinks at a table next to the Deschutes river at the River House. Our drive back to Eugene the next morning was uneventful.

If you get a chance to see a total eclipse, don't miss it. Don't be afraid of the extra hassle to get into the zone of totality. The difference between 99.9% and 100% is literally the difference between day and night. At 100% the stars come out and you can look directly at the sun and all the seemingly miraculous phenomena that come with totality. Our entire family, who was enthralled by this eclipse, is now making plans to go to Argentina for a 4-minute eclipse in 2019. Maybe we'll see you there!

We were reluctant to leave Brittany with its spectacular coastline and its peaceful grounded atmosphere, but Karen had never seen the Loire Valley, so we headed east, leaving the rolling hills of Brittany for the flatlands surrounding the Loire.

We decided to break up the nearly four and a half hour drive from Plougrescant to Amboise with a stop at L'Arche de la nature park near Le Mans for a quick round of disc golf. Surprisingly, Le Mans has 8 disc golf courses - the highest concentration of disc golf courses in France. The temperature was in the low 80s (around 28 degrees C) with a light breeze. We found the very wooded course well marked, challenging, and beautiful. Highly recommended for any disc golfers passing through the area.

Great signage on the course.

Karen's drive on a 160 meter hole.

It was only an hour's drive from Le Mans to Amboise and we easily found our hotel, the Hotel Clos D'Amboise. We pulled into the narrow, gated courtyard, parked, and checked in with the very welcoming staff. At first glance, we were quite pleased with our room in the former carriage house of an old estate with its double french doors looking out onto a small garden at the side of the courtyard. The bathroom was a bit strange - about 4 feet wide and perhaps 15 feet long - very narrow and hard to move around in but the room itself seemed charming.

After reading reviews of the hotel's restaurant, we had made reservations for a table on their patio next to the garden. The food was excellent, the service impeccable, and the location next to the gardens ideal. Our only surprise was that every table around us was occupied by Americans.

We're used to spending time in France but we hadn't ever encountered so many Americans in one place. During our entire visit to Brittany, we hadn't heard a word of English. In the Basque region, we occasionally hear British English and rarely encounter Americans, so it was a big surprise to be completely surrounded by English speakers. As we would discover during our off-season stay here in the Loire Valley, most of the people we would encounter were American tourists. ​We had a nice conversation with a couple at the next table, but couldn't help being disturbed by a classic 'ugly American' a few tables away. In a very loud voice, this investment adviser was trying to convince his clients to turn the rest of their portfolio over to him to manage. Fortunately, the obviously wealthy client wasn't having any of it. Unfortunately, the over-the-top high pressure sales pitch went on for nearly two hours.

But I diverge. After dinner, we strolled on the banks of the Loire taking in the peaceful river and the looming Chateau d'Amboise (more on that in a bit). Returning to the hotel after the late sunset, we strolled the beautiful gardens of the property and then went back to the room just as they were closing the front gates.

Karen above the Loire at sunset.

As we discovered during the rest of our stay, our room was not situated in the best place. The double French doors didn't insulate us from the outside noise of people gathering or passing through the courtyard to their rooms. If the gates were open, road noise was substantial and being on the ground floor, we were subject to the pounding of the elephants occupying the room above us. Overall, in spite of the friendly, helpful staff, and great restaurant, the room was a negative for us.

For our first morning we had visions of doing some stand up paddling on the Loire, sort of following up on the paddling we'd done near Plougrescant in Brittany. As we learned after an extensive search of places to put in, the current is much too fast for stand up paddling (unless you have someone to pick you up downstream). We would have been better off renting kayaks for the day. There are numerous small outfits that will pick you up wherever and whenever you want at very reasonable rates.

We enjoyed a light breakfast at a bakery not far from the hotel, then made our way to Clos de Luce - the former home of da Vinci. While the house and its history are interesting (including da Vinci's relationship with King Francis I - perhaps familiar to fans of The Tudors), It's the basement and the adjacent building that captivated our scientific and historical interests. In both places you can see da Vinci's drawings, the history of the deployment of his inventions (many of which were not actually built for hundreds of years), and many modern constructions of his more interesting inventions. Clos de Luce is definitely worth the price of admission.

After a couple of hours there, we were hungry and walked back towards the center of the old town along the walls of the Chateau d'Amboise which dominates the entire village. We spotted an interesting sign pointing down a side street and had an excellent lunch at a restaurant called Le Parvis. Almost all of its dishes were prepared in a wood-fired oven.

That afternoon we took a ride to Chenonceau, one of the most famous Chateaux in the Loire Valley. In addition to the spectacular gardens and a labyrinth/maze, the chateau itself is worth the stop. New since my last visit in 2000 is a hall where the history of the chateau is recounted on story boards in multiple languages. We spent a lot of time here learning about the intrigues in the courts of Francis I and others and how the chateau was a pawn in sensitive political negotiations. It also appears to have been the home to the roots of the feminist movement in France started by Louise-Marie Dupin de Chenonceau (1706-1799!), who hired Rousseau to write a an encyclopedia about the second sex, proving their equality to men.

The great halls, tapestries, and bedrooms were fascinating, but I think Karen was most intrigued by the kitchens and, of course Louise-Marie Dupin. ​

Chenonceau from across the Cher river

Karen in the center of the labyrinth

One of the spectacular gardens

A view of one of the kitchens

The next day, with record temperatures forecast (104 degrees - 40 C), we decided to visit the Chateau d'Amboise as soon as they opened, then to stop at Loches on our way back to Guethary.

The Chateau d'Amboise was Francois I's castle. Over the centuries it has undergone many changes, most of which are depicted both inside and outside the castle. As I've mentioned, it really does dominate Amboise and looking downward, you can see the many homes and shops built during the 15th century. Looking up from the village, you can't help but be a bit intimidated by the castle's presence. I'm sure that was a calculated effect.​

Chateau d'Amboise from the Loire

The face of the Chateau above the Loire

Gardens on the Chateau grounds

The Chateau Chapel where da Vinci's remains reside (they hope)

The tower/fortress with the dungeon across the courtyard

After visiting the Chateau, we checked out of the hotel and made the 45 minute drive to Loches. I had been there in 2000 and remember being quite impressed. This time was a bit different as the site is much more developed with a souvenir shop and more historical signage, much of it focused on disabusing us of the notion that the torture chambers were used extensively. Nonetheless, the chateau and in particular, the dungeon were worth the visit.

Built in the 9th century, little remains of the main fortress. The block-shaped building in the picture is largely an empty structure inside. You can see where the floors used to be and signs document what each of the many levels was used for. Still, the best part is the underground dungeons. Across the path is the entrance. You begin to descend a spiral stone staircase and after a minute or two, you encounter the first of the cells where prisoners where kept and tortured. After continuing downward past more and darker cells, you eventually enter a subterranean cavern from which you will ultimately exit. Apparently, the area is riddled with these caverns and for centuries, they were quarried.

We left Loches and the Loire Valley heading south towards the Pays Basque as the temperatures started to soar.

Will we go back to visit the Loire Valley? Probably not. We learned about the history of the area, saw the chateaux, and enjoyed our visit, but largely because it's a major tourist destination, it's not what we think of as the most inviting region of France. While we do cycle, we didn't cycle the Loire Valley. However it's worth noting that many of the roads there have large, well-maintained bike lanes, perfect for those who want to do bike trips which include visiting chateau and sipping the wines of the Loire Valley.

Returning home to our little village in the Pays Basque, we were pleased to find that the ocean breezes had cooled that area. After a quick shower, we made our way to Tantina de la Playa where we were warmly greeted by the always very cool staff and had an excellent dinner to wrap up our trip.

For most Americans, France is either Paris, the Loire Valley, or the Riviera. But France is much more. And while we haven't fully explored the entire country, we have found some hidden gems.

Sometime back I did a post entitled Dare Brittany! Finistere, Morlaix, Perros Guirec. In it, I described the relatively short visit we did to Brittany as part of our drive up the west coast of France. I said we'd be back, and two weeks ago, we decided to visit Brittany again with the goal of hiking more of the GR 34 - the 1200-mile Grande Randonnée (Great Hike) that runs along the coast of Brittany. We had heard that our previous hikes along the Sentier des Douaniers (Customs Agents Trail), part of the GR with its immense pink granite formations and hidden granite structures which allowed the customs agents to surreptitiously watch for smugglers, would pale in comparison to parts of the trail to the east. We were a bit skeptical, but excited to see this more remote coastline.

To break up the 7-hour drive from our place in the Pays Basque to the north coast of Brittany, we stopped in southern Brittany along the Gulf of Morbihan where we visited Vannes and the Ile aux Moines - one of several hundred islands in the picturesque gulf. More on that in an upcoming post.

The next day we headed to Le Manoir de Kergrec'h, a restored 15th century manor house on a huge, park-like estate that borders the GR-34 in the area of Plougrescant in northern Brittany. This part of Brittany is called the Cote d'Armor. On our way to the manor, we had to pass through the town of Treguier. And while it was only 15 minutes to our destination, the impressive cathedral merited a stop.

Parts of the Cathedral were built in 970 AD, but most of what you see today was built beginning in 1339. In addition to striking stained glass, and gravity defying architecture, the cathedral is home to the remains of Saint Yves - the patron saint of lawyers. Every year on May 19th, lawyers from around the world come to Treguier to pay hommage to St. Yves and to carry his skull from the cathedral to nearby Minihy, where St. Ives had built an asylum. ​We left Treguier with the plan of returning on foot from the manor the next day.​

Cathedral at Teguier

Narrow passage Teguier

Arriving at the manor, we were struck by the beauty of the spot. We checked in, settled into our well-appointed room that was almost as large as our apartment, and decided to do a quick hike along the GR from the manor to the north then back through the village of Plougrescant. The mostly single-track trail ran along the banks of the Baie d'Enfer (the Bay of Hell), so named because of the strong currents leading from the estuary to the south into the English Channel to the north. In spite of the drizzly day, the scenery did not disappoint. ​

Manoir de Kergrec'h

GR 34 near the manor

Returning to Plougrescant

Since we indicated we wanted a light meal, Pierre, the owner of the manor, suggested a couple of local restaurants. We walked back into the village where we had a surprisingly good dinner in a small, unassuming restaurant called La Maison Bleue. It has a small menu, but most everything is organic and the preparation and presentation were worthy of a high-end restaurant.

The next morning we started our hike into Treguier, intent on having lunch there and returning by late afternoon. The weather was spectacular: sunny, low 70s, and a light breeze.

The GR south from the manor continues as mostly single track along the water for a couple of miles. Then, as you reach the village called La Roche Jaune, it moves onto streets. A kilometer or so later, the GR offers a choice - turn down towards the estuary, or take the high tide route. Since the tide was low, we decided on the estuary. This adds a few kilometers to the hike, and it's a much more challenging trail, but we thought the scenery would be better than on the roads into Treguier. Unfortunately, we were just wearing running shoes, so we weren't prepared for the mud. The views were mostly worth it, though often, the going was very slow as we tried to rock-hop our way. Our guess is that the path that was supposed to be about 15 minutes longer added well over an hour to our hike.

Exiting the estuary, which is formed by the merging of three rivers - Le Jaudy, Le Dossen, and Le Guindy, you're back on country roads which run through artichoke fields dotted with wild red poppies. Although we were on roads, it was a pleasant hike through the countryside and we made it to Treguier before the restaurants closed for lunch.

After lunch we took the easy way back, avoiding the estuary, which was quickly becoming submerged with the rising tide.​

GR 34 towards Tregier: Descending into the Estuary

A nicer part of the estuary

Treguier - still an hour away from a rugged part of the estuary

The red poppies of Brittany

One of the fascinating things about Brittany is its wealth of prehistoric cromlechs (circles of stone like Stonehenge), menhirs (large standing stones), dolmens (ancient burial chambers), and cairns. One of the most famous of the latter is the Cairn de Barnenez. Dating from over 6500 years ago, long before the pyramids, it is also one of the largest prehistoric structures ever found. It's located just north of Morlaix in the Finistere (end of the world) part of Brittany, about an hour away from the manor.

After a leisurely morning, we made our way to the Cafe du Port in Plouzouc'h, just north of Morlaix near the mouth of the estuary there. There is a part of the GR 34 that leads to the Cairn of Barnenez from the port - a distance of just under 4 miles each way. We had a superb lunch which included fresh mussels that had just come into season and then started out on the trail which again, is mostly single-track. It is somewhat overgrown in places, but offers spectacular views of the estuary and the islands just beyond as it climbs the cliffs bordering the estuary.

The Cairn was worth the visit and the small museum was informative, describing the construction of the Cairn, the peoples of the time, and their lifestyles.

We stopped at the Cafe du Port and watched the tide come in as we re-hydrated. Karen sipped a local dark buckwheat-based beer while I downed a huge bottle of sparkling water.

On the way back to the manor, we stopped for bread, cheese and wine, and enjoyed a light dinner and Scrabble on the manor's patio. ​

Beginning of the trail from Plouzouc'h

Just before the climb up the east face of the estuary

The Cairn de Barnenez complete with Dolmen and burial passages

The other side of the Cairn

Low tide across from the Cafe du Port in Plouzouc'h

Rising tide after the hike to the Cairn

Our final day in Plougrescant started off with standup paddling in the small bay of Gouermel, a few miles from the manor. We had been advised to avoid the Baie d'Enfer in favor of the much calmer waters away from the estuary. In spite of the somewhat gloomy weather which had arrived unexpectedly overnight, but which cleared about noon, we had a great time paddling among the small islands and rugged rock outcroppings of this small bay. Before heading back to the manor, we decided to do a bit more of the GR 34 - the part north of Plougrescant. And this part is without a doubt all that was claimed. It's one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline we've ever seen.​

Karen headed out to see the islands

The famous house between two rocks on the GR 34

One of the homes along the GR 34

Spectacular coastline along the GR 34

​​We lunched at Chez Constance, an eclectic restaurant/bookstore/live music venue on the edge of the village of Plougrescant where we sampled gallettes - giant savory crepes made of gluten-free buckwheat. They were excellent. All the food at Chez Constance is local and organic. It's definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

​We reluctantly prepared to leave the manor and Plougrescant the next morning to spend a couple of days in Amboise in the Loire Valley. We mentioned to Pierre that we would be stopping near Le Mans to play disc golf, and then had to explain what disc golf was. He and Sabrina threw a few discs on the spacious grounds of the manor and were completely intrigued. It turns out that Pierre has been looking for some activity to add to the manor property. Several friends had suggested a golf course, but Pierre felt the upkeep and environmental impact was too great. It looks like he may be installing a disc golf course instead.

In parting, he suggested we pass through Paimpol, a town to the east, and take a quick look at the port that leads to the Ile de Brehat where he'd owned his previous hotel. And one more time before leaving, we were blown away by the beauty of this stretch of coastline.

Looking towards the Ile de Brehat east of Plougrescant

​One last note: we were in northern Brittany during and after the first part of the legislative elections in France. The France Insoumise party was campaigning everywhere. As we learned, the people of Brittany are very environmentally-oriented. Hence, Brittany serves as home to this eco-socialist party. They have limited industrial development and have have preserved what may be the most beautiful areas in France.

A good friend recently called us to ask if she should buy a Chevy Bolt. Of course our initial response was 'ABSOLUTELY!' We talked about the amazing handling, 100% torque at all times, and its remarkable high-tech features. But as we got into details about charging and range, I realized that there's a lot people don't know about owning an electric vehicle (EV) and that the idea of owning an EV as your primary vehicle is a radical one. Even (or perhaps it's mostly) non-EV owners have range anxiety.

If you've read my other posts about EVs, you have a good idea of some of the limitations and concerns we've seen over the years with EVs. Most of these have been answered by the Bolt, but ultimately, with today's technologies, it turns out that the practical limitations for an EV are less about the car itself and its range, and more about charging. That said, I thought I'd dedicate this post to EV charging and whether today's infrastructure is sufficient to own an EV - in particular the Bolt - as your sole (or primary) vehicle. First, a few facts about the Bolt:

The Bolt has an official range of 238 miles and an official MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) of 130 miles per gallon. In terms of actual tested range over the nearly 4 months we've been driving the Bolt, it gets over 300 miles around town, around 210 miles at 70-75 mph, and we average around 260 miles in mixed highway and city driving.

So what about charging?

The Bolt's battery capacity is 60 kWh: sixty kilowatt hours. When you start driving an EV, you think in terms of kWH and kW (kilowatts) instead of gas tank volume and gallons of gas needed to fill it. Still, the idea is the same. EVs get a certain number of miles per kWh just like a gasoline-powered car gets a number of miles per gallon of gas. The battery capacity is like the gas tank.

Obviously, just as you get lower gas mileage going uphill in a conventional car, you get fewer miles per kWh going uphill in an EV. But in an EV, when you go downhill, you recharge the battery. That's like filling your tank as you drive. Also, EVs get better range around town than on the highway. For the ranges I mentioned above, we get over 5 miles/kWh around town, about 3.5 miles/kWh at faster highway speeds, and about 4.25 miles/kWh in mixed highway and city driving.

The Bolt accepts two types of charging interfaces: the J1772 plug, and the CCS Fast Charging plug. At 240 volts, the J1772 adapter will charge the Bolt at up to 7.8 kW (kilowatts) and a fully discharged battery will recharge in about 9 hours. The CCS Fast Charging interface accepts up to 80 kW, which theoretically means that you could fully charge an empty battery in about 45 minutes (60kWh/80kW = .75 hours). Unfortunately the reality here is a bit different. The battery's charging is not linear. It charges fastest when empty and slows as it nears full capacity. Also, as of today, there are no 80+ kW charging stations available for any cars other than Teslas. The best EV charging stations we've found are 50 kW and it takes about 80 minutes to charge the Bolt from 20% to 100%.

So what does this mean from a practical point of view?

We have no concerns on trips of 200 miles or so. We drive to our destination, and if it's on the high end of the range, we recharge partially or fully and drive back. We do regular trips of 175 miles each way. During our brief stays at our destinations (usually meetings, sometimes a nice meal), we leave the Bolt at a Fast Charging Station to charge for about 80 minutes, bringing it up to near 100%. When done with our meetings, we make our return trip, and end with more than 20% of the battery capacity remaining when we get home. In all, our 350-mile round trips take about 6 hours including charging time - not much different than in a gas-powered car - a gas car would have sat idle during our meetings anyway.

The reality is that most of our drives are much shorter - 100 miles each way or less. For these trips we don't even think about charging the car unless there happens to be an available charging station near our destination. And although we have a 240 volt charging station at home, we rarely use it. We get free charging at many places in Santa Cruz and have found that most cities offer free charging in their city parking lots. If we're near a free charging station and it's available, we plug in while shopping, dining, or seeing a movie.

Not counting the free charging, the cost of charging, using either our home charging station or paying for EVgo Fast Charging, is about 10 cents per kWh. At 4.25 miles per kWh, it costs us about $2.35 to drive 100 miles. Since the Bolt is essentially maintenance free (other than tires and washer fluid), it's much less expensive to operate that our Audi. With free charging factored in, the Bolt is incredibly cheap to drive.

But what about a really long trip?

Well, that's a bit more difficult. To be frank, Tesla has real advantages over the Bolt. But it's not the car. Sure, the Model S and Model X are nice luxury cars, but they don't meet my practical needs for carrying surfboards and sporting equipment and for parking in areas where a $100,000 car wouldn't last long. No, it's not about the car. It's about the charging network.

Tesla has built an extensive network of fast charging stations. Most of these charge at a whopping 120 kW. So, for a Telsa, after 3 or 4 hours on the road, you need to recharge for 30-45 minutes before continuing another 3 to 4 hours or so. Long distances in a Tesla are practical and a Tesla could easily be not only your primary vehicle, but your only car.

For non-Telsa vehicles, there are several private pay-to-charge networks, but none has the capacity of the Tesla network. Chargepoint has built a network that extends from the Mexican border to Canada with Fast Charging Stations every 50 miles or so. Unfortunately, almost all of these operate at only 25 kW, so running up Highway 5 at 70-75 mph, getting 3.5 miles per kWh, an hour of charging would get you at most 85 miles. It's not terribly practical to charge for an hour to drive a bit over an hour. Of course if you want to make overnight stops, or if you have places you want to visit along the way, you could make this work for medium+ distance trips.

The other network we use is EVgo. EVgo is expanding their network of 50 kW charging stations but they don't have many on Highway 5. There are quite a few along Highway 80 and along Highway 101. Longer trips along these corridors are somewhat more practical, but still not what you're used to in a gas-powered car. You'd be charging an hour to get 170 miles. We've planned a trip to Oregon in the Bolt this summer and it looks like, using the 25 kW Chargepoint stations, it will take us about three hours longer than in our Audi.

So, for now, unless you have a Tesla, a 1000-mile or longer trip in an EV would mean a lot more stops.

The good news is that charging infrastructure is changing fast. As part of its settlement for the 'dieselgate scandal', VW is building an extensive network of very fast charging EV stations. They, along with other auto manufacturers, have already begun rolling out 350 kW stations in Europe. In the States, they've committed to doing the same beginning this year.

Locally, EVgo has just installed a 150 kW experimental station in Fremont. It theoretically has the capacity to go up to 350 kW.

​So, it looks like over the coming years, the charging infrastructure will improve to the point where you can have a non-Tesla as your only vehicle - 150 kW charging will let you charge your car almost as fast as you could fill up at a gas pump. 350 kW will be just as fast if not faster, once cars have the capacity to accept that rate of charging.

For us, with its great range, Fast Charging, and fun to drive features, the Bolt has become our Primary Vehicle, covering a good 98% of our trips. But because we periodically do very long trips (over 600 miles), until the charging infrastructure improves, the Bolt won't be our only vehicle.

When I received my jury notice, I figured that this time would be like the dozens of others - I call in each day and am told to call the next. At the end of the week, the recording thanks me for my service and says that I have fulfilled my jury duty obligation and would not be called for the next two years.

But this time was different. It started out the same; I called in to see if I had to report the first day and as had happened literally dozens of time before, I was told to call back the next day. Same thing the following day. I was sure that this was going to be a repeat. What was the likelihood that I'd be called in the middle of the week for a DUI trial? Almost everyone I knew who was actually called to appear was impaneled on a 3-day DUI trial. Only a couple of people had to serve longer - a week or so on civil suits.

On my next call, I was told to appear on Thursday. The fact that I was supposed to show up at 2 pm near the end of the week should have been my first clue that more was going on here.

After driving around the courthouse for 30 minutes in search of parking, I finally found a spot on Water Street. I walked into the Jury Assembly Room, dripping wet because of the raging storm, with barely 10 minutes to spare. I filled out the basic questionnaire and took a seat among over 100 people. A few minutes later, a friendly Sheriff's Deputy led us through security and into the courtroom where we struggled to find seats. Judge Timothy Volkmann greeted us warmly and encouraged the stragglers (me among them) to sit in the jury box. He jokingly assured us that sitting in the jury box at this point was nothing to be worried about. We looked nervously at each other.

Over the course of the next twenty to thirty minutes, Judge Volkmann explained our responsibilities as jurors and how the process worked. He also made it very clear that no one was getting out of jury duty without a very good reason. Then he dropped the bombshell. This was a five week trial and the defendant was charged with raping his 7 year-old daughter. There were countless audible gasps in the courtroom.

I'm sure this is disappointing, but I'm not going to go into the details of the case in this blog. Instead, I want to describe some surprises in the process and how this trial impacted me and the other jurors. First the surprises:

1) We were given a very long questionnaire to be completed outside the courtroom and returned to the bailiff before leaving the courthouse. There were a few yes/no questions, but the majority were questions that really got into who you were and what you thought about the justice system, the police, and the idea of innocence until proven guilty. There were lots of case-specific questions about sexual abuse, your ability to separate lies from truth, and questions about children testifying, children lying - it was all surprising. It took me nearly two hours to complete the questionnaire. Court and jury selection would reconvene first thing Monday morning.

2) On Monday morning, the court requested private interviews with seven of us, me included. Based on my questionnaire responses, both the prosecutor and defense attorneys asked me numerous questions about my previous experience with people who had been sexually abused and about my ability to render a fair decision in spite of this experience. While they seemed to find my answers satisfactory, I noticed that 3 of the seven were excused. Not long after entering the court as a group, a few dozen potential jurors were excused, some for hardship (a separate form they'd filled out).

3) Jury selection progressed as you might expect. They put 12 people in the jury box. The judge asked several questions, then the defense and prosecuting attorneys asked questions. Surprisingly, it wasn't adversarial at this point. Both attorneys seemed to be looking for impartial jurors, not jurors who would favor their side. Countless jurors were excused. At one point, it appeared there were 11 jurors who seemed acceptable to both sides. They needed one more juror and 4 alternates. They brought me up. I was selected as the third of the 4 alternates - juror number 15. Everyone else was excused and thanked for their service.

4) During the course of the trial, winter storms closed roads and caused power outages. At times jurors couldn't get to court on time. The judge would either excuse us for the day or delay the start until the jurors could get there.

5) During the trial, the prosecutor and the defense attorney worked closely together. Certainly, they had disagreements which were settled in sidebars or through objections, but overall, they spent a lot of time conferring on how to best present evidence.

6) We've all seen the movies where there is direct examination of a witness followed by cross-examination, followed by a possible redirect. What I didn't know is that the redirect and recross become a re-redirect and re-recross and that there's no limit to the back and forth. And the biggest surprise: JURORS GET TO ASK QUESTIONS.

According to Judge Volkmann, in California and many other states, judges have the option to give an instruction permitting jurors to ask questions. A juror notes the question on a piece of paper, the bailiff delivers it to the clerk who enters it into the record and hands it to the judge. If he thinks it might have merit, he gives it to the attorneys. They determine if it has merit and if so, decide who will ask it, sometimes getting clarification from the judge on evidence and legality before posing the question to the witness. We had over 80 juror questions during this trial.

7) The police, forensic examiners, and expert witnesses were excellent. It was clear that these people knew what they were doing and had expertise that you wouldn't think possible, even after watching countless courtroom dramas. Personally, I couldn't imagine doing their jobs.

So here I was. After decades of receiving jury duty notices, and only having to show up once, this time I was selected for a criminal trial forecast to last 5 weeks, but which actually took almost 8 weeks. Since I'm now retired, I thought the timing was perfect. For years, I had managed to escape jury duty's impact on my startups so now it was time to pay up. For the first time in my life, I had the time and flexibility to try to contribute to this most fundamental of our democratic processes.

But, I had no idea how much it would impact my life.

It was a complicated trial. Witnesses lied. And they lied about things that didn't seem to matter to the case. They contradicted each other. They changed their stories. They recanted previous testimonies with investigators and at the preliminary hearing. The process was long. The crime was described in excruciating detail complete with forensic evidence, photographs, and hours and hours of victim and family interviews. The defendant interrogation was grueling. Most of us were overwhelmed seeing a real life interrogation that went on for 10 hours or more. And as the trial progressed, it was clear that innocence, guilty, or not guilty (can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt) was not clear. There would be no easy decision here.

But the worst was that none of us could talk about all we were seeing, hearing, and feeling. As we exited the courtroom for breaks, it was clear that most everyone was deeply shaken by what we had seen and heard. We couldn't talk to family, friends, counselors - as you might expect - but we couldn't talk to each other either. It would have been helpful to be able to discuss the contradictions that seem to arise throughout the trial as well as the truly disturbing claims.

I had nightmares. I got depressed and angry - short tempered - not like me at all. I couldn't stop thinking about the trial - about the process, the victim, the defendant, the attorneys, the conflicting evidence. Unanswered questions haunted me and there was no one I could talk to about them. During evenings and weekends when we had time for social events, my mind was on the case. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Now, after the end of the trial, other jurors tell me they experienced the same or worse. Like mine, their spouses tried to be patient and understanding, but when you're in a relationship where you share your lives, and talk about what you do each day, going 8 weeks without being able to discuss what occupies your every waking hour and disrupts even your sleeping hours is a strain on any relationship.

Worse, for me as an alternate juror, while I got to ask questions and participate in the whole trial just like any other juror, I was excluded from deliberations unless someone dropped out. We did lose one juror during the trial, but the likelihood of losing another during deliberations was virtually non-existent. All the analysis, all the questions - I wouldn't be able to ask them. I wouldn't be able to give my input in the deliberations. And now that I know how it turned out. I get to feel some additional guilt and lose more sleep over the fact that I think I might have helped bring about a different outcome: on the major counts, the jury was hung, 11 to 1.

Eleven jurors thought the defendant was not guilty. If you think about it, that's a long way to come from the initial gasps, especially after 6 weeks of intense prosecution evidence including those police reports and interviews, forensic interviews, and testimony by police and experts.

I admit that I wasn't sure about my conclusions until I finally laid out the entire thing for Karen after the decision came in and I was released from the confidentiality instruction. But over those hours of explaining every detail to her - my first chance to talk about all the evidence and associated contradictions - it was clear to me that there were just too many holes in the prosecution's case. Not only was there reasonable doubt, I was convinced that the defendant was innocent - falsely accused of one of the most horrendous crimes.

And what about that one hold-out juror? According to the others, that juror admitted there was reasonable doubt (the requirement for a not-guilty verdict as dictated by the judge), but just wouldn't allow a not-guilty verdict. It must be nice to not have any doubt.

What happens now? There will likely be another trial. The defendant, who has spent over 3 years in jail and who has had his life ruined, will likely face the whole process again. There's a major concern about the charges on which he was found not guilty. These provided much doubt about the main charges. They likely won't be admissible in a future trial.

But I'm glad it's over. The other jurors are glad it's over. None are happy. All have been disturbed by this particular trial. We all hope to find some way to move on.

For me, I'm still not sleeping well. I hope to be meeting with both attorneys shortly to talk about the trial. I will be spending time with other jurors, trying to make sense of the whole thing and trying to get our lives back on track. Then maybe I'll give you the details and the countless questions. In the meantime, I'll be working on a novel about the case, hoping the writing will release me from the mental squirrel-caging I can't seem to control.

Update: It took quite a while, but I finally finished that novel. I called it The 15th Juror. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and ebook formats. Let me know what you think.

Yesterday, we took our #BoltEV on a 350 mile trip. Our goal: drive from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo in the morning and return by early evening. We do this trip once a month and thus far have always taken our Audi Allroad. It's about 170 miles each way.

With the Bolt's rated range of 238 miles, we should be able to make it to San Luis Obispo, charge during Karen's meeting, then make it back, right?

Having lived with a Ford Focus EV for the past three years, we were more than a bit nervous about driving any electric car beyond its rated range, but particularly when much of the trip would be out in the middle of nowhere - no towns, no charging stations. Plus, we knew that you don't get anywhere near the rated range at highway speeds, if you have strong headwinds, if you use the climate control, or if you have to climb hills. Part of the trip to San Luis Obispo involved climbing the 1533' Cuesta Grade, just 8 miles before our destination.

​We did a bit of planning and discovered that there were Chargepoint 24 DC kw fast charging stations in King City (about 85 miles from Santa Cruz) and in Paso Robles (just 30 miles from our destination). There were two evGO 50 kw DC fast chargers in San Luis Obispo in the Marigold Center. We'd found those on a previous trip.

We went to bed the night before with the biggest storm of the season raging outside. Heavy rain and winds shook the house. I don't think it was the weather that caused our somewhat sleepless night, it was the omnipresent range anxiety familiar to most EV owners.

The forecast for the next day was periodic heavy showers. If the weather looked really bad, we'd fall back on the Audi and would save the Bolt for a future trip.

But, as fortune would have it, we woke up to a morning of light showers and a few rays of sunshine here and there. We hopped in the Bolt and headed south. Traffic was light and we saw that at 70 mph, our consumption was averaging over 3.5 miles per kwH. With a battery capacity of 60 kwH, that should give us 210 miles. We felt a bit better.

Of course, there was a traffic jam on one of our shortcuts requiring a 7 mile detour; it was chilly and the windows fogged up with the rain; and when we caught the storm to the south, we faced pretty strong headwinds. But the Bolt was a pleasure to drive. The ride was surprisingly smooth on the concrete highway surface of Highway 101 and with the low center of gravity, it handled well even in gusty winds.

The park and square in downtown Paso Robles

As we neared Paso Robles, our expected remaining range was under 50 miles and we had a bit over 30 miles to go. Of course our elevation was about 700 feet and we still had to climb up to 1533 feet. We decided to play it safe and do a quick charge in Paso Robles at Cool Hand Luke's. The restaurant itself was closed but the charging station was available. We plugged in, tapped our Chargepoint card, and nothing happened. The card reader wasn't working.

​I waited on hold for nearly 15 minutes with Chargepoint. They activated the station and Karen and I walked the two blocks to grab an early light lunch at the highly recommended Red Scooter Cafe, one of many restaurants surrounding a gorgeous park in the center of the town.

Returning to the Bolt, we saw that we'd added a bit over 50 miles to the expected range and we made our way to San Luis Obispo. As we reached the top of the Grade, we saw that we had used about 30 of the expected miles. We could have made it without stopping at Paso Robles.

​We still had 45 minutes before Karen's meeting, so we plugged in at the evGO station and toured Marigold center looking for possible future lunch spots - there are several. Normally though, we have lunch at Novo downtown - great food and atmosphere on the deck above the creek on days with nicer weather.

The DC Fast Charging Surprise

I dropped Karen at her appointment and made my way back to the evGo station to fully charge the Bolt. 15 minutes later, the Bolt was charged to 80%. I had read that after 80% EV batteries charged slower, but I didn't realize how much slower. You do the straight line math, and with a 50 kw charger, you'd think you could fully charge the 60 kwH battery in an hour and 12 minutes, right? Not a chance. After 80%, the charge rate dropped to 17 kw, then at 90% capacity, it dropped to 10 kw, and at 98% to 6 kw. It took an over hour to get the Bolt charged from 80% to 100%.

The Return

I picked Karen up and we started home. Eight miles later at the top of Cuesta Grade, we'd used 8% of the battery. It was time for a bit of range anxiety again. But there was always King City if we needed it. As it turned out, in spite of some strong winds on the return, we didn't need to stop. It wasn't even close. We got back to Santa Cruz, 170 miles from our start, with 25% of the battery and an estimated 50+ miles remaining. ​

Conclusions and a few Notes

We love this car (see We Love our New #ChevyBolt). The more we drive it, the more we find to like. I'm sure Chevrolet wouldn't want to hear this, but we can't believe it's a Chevy! It handles like a European car - it's tight.

It is unlikely that we will experience range anxiety again. We understand the car and now we know about Fast Charging. 80% is a magic number. Our longer trips will need a bit more planning.

Last and not least, I note that we drove in LOW mode for the entire trip. I've become addicted to single pedal driving. Still, I'm not sure that I'm getting the max Regen when going downhill in LOW since I have to keep my foot on the accelerator pedal. Next month when we make our trip to San Luis, we'll give DRIVE mode a shot to see if it makes any difference on the downhills. Between now and then, we'll be doing 200 mile trips with no worries about range.

Bottom line, if you have any doubts about the Bolt, forget them. It's an amazing car. Buy one if you can!

Update 3/9/2017

We've now done several trips to San Luis Obispo and back. We leave Santa Cruz fully charged, drive 70 -75 mph most of the way (except in King City), charge once in San Luis at the 50kw EVgo station, and drive home, arriving with 25% of the battery left (~50 miles). We've had the car two and a half months and drive all over the Bay Area without even thinking about charging stations. We've verified that LOW mode is the most efficient and now we only drive in LOW mode. I don't see any disadvantages in performance. And, I can still say that the more we drive it, the more we love this car! My next blog post on the Bolt will likely be this summer after we do a trip to Oregon and back.

Although I had worked as a programmer for years before leaving the University, I don't think my career really started until I joined IBM. I learned a lot at IBM. Apart from the technical engineering side, I learned a lot about people and what it took to motivate them and build loyalty.

At the time, IBM believed that if you hired talented people, you should keep them for life. Even wiser was the belief that all IBM employees were valuable enough to be given free education and training if they wanted to do a career change within the company. During the course of my time there, I saw secretaries become managers and executives, salespeople become engineers, engineers become sales or support people, writers move into QA, and countless other moves. The possibilities were endless.

As an employee, the fact that I could change the direction of my career and that it would be fully supported made me a very loyal, motivated employee. Carrying this philosophy into other companies I worked for and into my own startups, I was rewarded with decades-long loyalty from some incredibly talented people. I tried to offer a sense of security and value, allowing them to change projects or jobs within the company, and to receive company-funded education.

And in spite of the rigors of multiple startups, I believe my team was truly happy.

Plus, as research has shown, this ability to learn and do new things not only makes us happier, it's critical to our longevity. It staves off dementia and helps keep us physically and mentally healthy. Without it, we stagnate. Our life becomes mundane. We become depressed and often spiral downhill, becoming resentful of those who are better off.

I'm going to make a leap here from this somewhat microscopic point of view to a much larger one. As many of you know, my wife Karen and I spend quite a bit of time in Europe, particularly France.

With changes in technology, lifestyle, and social interaction, many jobs have disappeared in Europe just as they have here in the States. Contrary to the opinions of the right-wing parties, these jobs are lost to the evolution of the economy, not to immigrants. Like everything else, economies must adapt and grow to survive.

But what about people who have lost their jobs? Shouldn't we try to save them? According to our President-Elect, we can do that. We can turn back the clock. The fact that we now drive automobiles shouldn't stop us from maintaining manufacturing of horse and buggy transportation. Right? And what about jobs going overseas? Shouldn't we stop the bleeding and protect our jobs here?

Although it's become a dirty word, globalization is a reality. Most modern economies need to trade internationally. Initially, this lowers costs for us, while simultaneously improving the economies and standards of living in the poorer countries. Ultimately though, those countries do better and eventually end up on equal footing. For me, this became evident in the tech industry with India. Years ago, many Silicon Valley companies moved much of their engineering to India to save costs. Today, the costs in India are often equal or higher than they are here. As standards and costs of living equalize globally, we'll see much less 'offshoring'.

In the meantime, though, people here are losing jobs. As the recent election has shown us, many of these were in manufacturing, mining, and some now 'obsolete' industries. What wasn't well-known is that US manufacturing output is at its highest level in years - we're manufacturing more with fewer people. Automation is making manufacturing processes more efficient. We don't need people to do the manual tasks anymore.

I'd like to think we'll continue moving forward to sustainable clean energy. Unfortunately, this means that industries like coal mining will suffer. What about the people who worked there?

The fact is, many parts of our economy are growing and have a shortage of people. We do need people who are trained and educated to program and operate the new automation equipment. We do need people who can work in the renewable energy field. If the manufacturing and energy companies were like IBM back in the seventies and eighties, they would retrain their people rather than laying them off. Unfortunately, companies have been pushed to increase profits and reduce costs at the expense of their loyal employees and of longer term company success.

So, what should we do? Is the President Elect correct? Can we turn back the clock and reinstate jobs that we don't need anymore? I don't think so.

Instead, we should follow the lead of the 'socialist' countries in Europe.

By many US definitions, France and of its sister EU nations are pretty socialistic. Taxes are high, but you're guaranteed retirement and healthcare. And, if you lose your job, not only does the government provide a basic income, they pay for education and training for your next job. True, there are people who abuse the system (like most systems), but those people are the exceptions. The vast majority learn new skills and live increasingly productive lives.

Education is an investment. I'm probably dating myself when I bring up the space race. In the 60s, President Kennedy had the vision to fund education programs emphasizing math and science. The results are the advanced technologies we now use every day.

Yes, this costs money. But it is an investment in the future. It's an investment in our most valuable resources - our people. It will more than pay for itself in future productivity and will reduce burden on the social support systems of the country. It will build people's confidence in themselves, and in our country. We just need the vision to look a bit beyond the immediate, knowing we must spend now to see a greater return in the future.

Thursday morning, December 29th, 2016 my phone rang. It was Kevin Rodriguez of Capitol Chevrolet calling to let me know that our new Chevy Bolt EV was in. They needed a couple of hours to finalize the prep, but we could pick it up that afternoon. However, with only 50 miles of charge, Kevin suggested that we might consider letting them charge it overnight so we wouldn't start our Bolt experience with range anxiety as we drove back to Santa Cruz over Highway 17.

Kevin, and Phil Benavidez, the finance manager, made the paper(less) work for our lease easy, and after a thorough training session which included pairing of our phones, Karen took the wheel. We noted that the average range estimate showed 239 miles. As she took off in the Bolt, I followed behind in our Audi Allroad. Twelve miles later at the summit of Highway 17, some 1800 vertical feet higher, we switched cars. The average range estimate showed 196 miles. I put the Bolt in Drive mode and headed down the hill. Once in the city, I switched to Low mode and tried the single pedal driving. It only took a few stoplights to get used to it once I realized that the car continued to regen even with my foot lightly on the accelerator.

We arrived in downtown Santa Cruz after a trip distance of 23 miles and the range estimate showed 216 miles - exactly 23 miles less than when we'd started!

That afternoon, my son-in-law and I made the trip into Felton to play a round at Black Mouse Disc Golf course and we travelled the windy Highway 9 to get a sense of the Bolt's handling. Yesterday morning, I made my first Bolt surf trip up the coast, and later we did a few errands around town. Upon returning, I spent some time going through every feature of the Bolt. We're planning a trip to San Luis Obispo (170 miles each way) next week and I'll do another post on our experiences with the Bolt on a longer range trip, but here's what we've learned so far:

Driving and Handling

​Whether it's the smooth curves of Highway 17, the tight winding Highway 9, or the open road of Highway 1, the Bolt is a pleasure to drive. The steering is tight and reminds me of our Audi. The low center of gravity gives the car a solid road-holding feel and when you step on the accelerator in a tight curve, the Bolt sits down and grips the road.

There's no slipping on starting up (as there was with our Ford Focus EV), and the acceleration is again, comparable to our Audi - very impressive! As with other EVs, the instant 100% torque availability makes passing a breeze. The turning radius is excellent - much better than the Focus EV where we often were forced into 3-point turns.

What we perceived as excessive road noise when we test drove a Bolt a few weeks ago isn't there in our production model. The car is quiet and the ride is smooth. Visibility is great with large windows and clever fold-down headrests.

I also now love the single pedal driving. I haven't used the brakes in quite a while and will likely only use them in critical situations. I don't see any reason to drive in anything but Low mode.

Cool blue LEDs line the dash at night

Surprisingly Cool Features

Range and Energy Usage Displays - In addition to the more detailed energy reports on the center console, I really appreciate the Driver Information Center. On the left side of the speedometer, there's the expected, optimal, and 'worst case' range estimates. To the right is a real time energy usage meter that tells you how many kw you are using (in yellow) or gaining through regen (in green).

Surround Vision Camera - Go to the home menu, touch Camera, and in addition to a a choice of front or rear view, you get a bird's eye view of the Bolt showing everything around you. The camera will operate at up to 8 mph. This also appears whenever you're in reverse.

Side Blind Zone Alert - The Audi has it and I've always appreciated it. The side view mirrors include an indicator which lights up when there is a car to the side of you and which flashes if you hit your turn signal with another vehicle nearby.

Pedestrian Detection - Driving down a narrow road with no sidewalks in dim light, I was pleased to see a pedestrian icon light up indicating an individual dressed in dark clothing walking on the side of the road.

Forward Collision Detection/Avoidance - We have this feature on the Audi too, but on some very windy roads, it mistakenly detects imminent collisions with trees in tight curves. The Bolt lets you adjust the distance for the collision detection.

Interior Night Lighting - The Bolts surprised us on our first night drive. The picture above doesn't do it justice, but the thin blue LED trim that caresses the dash is very cool.

Storage - You've heard about how roomy the Bolt is, but we were surprised by the amount of storage. There's plenty of space in the back near the hatch where a spare tire could have been placed, a surprisingly deep center console, and Karen's favorite, a space in front of the shifter, below the dash with plenty of room for a large purse.

Heated Steering Wheel - Particularly with an EV where you may not want to run the climate control too much, this is much appreciated on cold mornings when you first get into the car.

Heated Rear Seats - Our passengers (and there's plenty of room for them in the back seat), have always been jealous when we turn on our front seat heaters. Now they've got seat heaters too.

Intellibeam Headlights - I've always appreciated auto-dimming rear-view mirrors. The Bolt has added intelligent headlights. If it's really dark and there are no cars ahead it (optionally) puts on the high beams. If a car approaches, or you catch one from behind, it dims the lights. I've always felt guilty if I didn't dim my high beams quickly enough. Now the Bolt does it for me.

Rear Hatch Width - We haven't really needed it yet, but the rear hatch is the full width of the Bolt with tail/brake lights on the hatch itself. This will be useful in loading wide objects. However, watch out for low clearance to the side, the tail lights wrap around and extend downward. I hit my head on one, not noticing it was lower than the rest of the hatch.

Bird's eye view on the left and choice of front or rear camera for the right

​Not as Cool as I Hoped

Rear View Mirror Camera - the rear view mirror operates in two modes - a standard mirror with auto dimming, and a camera. I was really looking forward (or backwards) to this. I'd seen them in car rental shuttles where the back was blocked and thought it would be very useful. However, on the Bolt, it has a couple of problems. 1) The image is smaller than reality so you can't judge distances very well - cars are MUCH closer than they appear. 2) It's a video. Surprisingly, looking at your side view mirror, then up to the rear view plays tricks on your eyes. The reflections are not created equal. However it will be useful when the back is fully loaded and the rear view mirror is blocked. It could also be useful in parking or backing up as it gives you a bit of a surround view - almost into your blind spots.

Seats - While comfortable and roomy, it seems a bit unusual that the seats are manually adjusted. In a Premier model, I would expect electronically adjustable seats with memory. Perhaps it was a space/weight issue.

Other Features

Infotainment - Great Bose sound system and intuitive radio controls as you'd expect in most modern vehicles. I like the sound level adjustments on the back side of the steering wheel. It also includes a WiFi hotspot.

Lane Keep and Following Distance Indicator - The Lane Keep will ensure you stay in your lane. There are display icons to indicate your lane position and following distance.

Phone Pairing - Easy to set up and use for multiple phones. Voice commands work well. Android Auto does the trick for navigation, phone, text messaging, and other phone apps.

There are many other features including scheduled charging, scheduled start and stop (for warming/cooling above), top off - leaving the battery partially uncharged to take advantage of regen charging on a descent after starting. Many of these we'll probably never use.

I've heard some people complain about the shifter. I'm not sure what they're complaining about. It makes sense to me. Of course I haven't had to put it in neutral for a car wash yet. Per the owner's manual, that looks more complicated than it needs to be.

The Bolt comes with 2 free maintenance visits and free roadside assistance, 5 years of Basic Onstar service with 3 months of free full service, a 3 month SiriusXM satellite radio subscription, a 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, a 5 year/60,000 powertrain warranty, and an 8 year/100,000 mile electric propulsion warranty.

A Few Negatives

No Battery Level Indicator - Maybe it exists, but I couldn't find a battery level indicator. Sure, the Bolt provides great range estimation, and several customizable reports on energy usage and efficiency, but I really like to know how much battery is left (as a numerical percentage of the capacity). While this is available through the MyChevrolet App, it really should be in the car itself.

No Navigation - Okay. We do use Google Maps for most of our navigation and it works fine through Android Auto. However, on the coast and in the mountains, we're often in areas where there is no cell service. It would be nice to have Nav for these areas.

KeyPass - I spent far too much time trying to figure this out. Theoretically, you pair your phone to allow it to control the car through the MyChevrolet App. There's a set up screen in the Settings section. You can follow the instructions in the Owner's Manual but they don't work. At this point, I think the feature is no longer supported. I suspect the MyChevrolet App does all it can without KeyPass. I'll let you know if I find out more.

Owner Registration - Apparently MyChevrolet (App and Website) only allows one owner account. Thus, my wife has to use my log in to get information about the car and to manage it remotely.

Conclusions

We LOVE this car. Amazing handling, fun to drive, and very practical for our sports-intensive activities. Having driven a Ford Focus EV for the past 3 years, there's no question that the Bolt is a quantum leap ahead. We're expecting the Bolt will meet 98% of our driving needs. We won't be taking it to the snow. We're hoping we can take it on longer trips using Fast Charging. It looks like this is getting easier as ChargePoint, EVgo, and others have teamed up to share infrastructure - it appears that we can use our ChargePoint cards on EVgo stations (and vice versa). This is part of the ROEV initiative where the charging network providers share resources much like using different banks' ATMs.

For those who have been following Bolt production, ours was ordered 10/10/16 with a targeted production week of 11/28/16. To my understanding we were number 11 on the wait list. 15 Bolts came in on 12/29 and apparently a few of the people lower down on the list did not receive theirs yet. We're grateful to Kevin Rodriguez, Phil Benavidez, and Scott Jobe of Capitol Chevrolet for making our Bolt acquistion an enjoyable process. But especially to Kevin who kept me regularly up to date after our first conversation in June of last year.

Click here to read about our 350 mile trip from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo and back.

A Few Updates (1/15/2017)

It just keeps getting better. With our Focus Electric, we were always concerned about whether we had charged it or not. Sometimes after a run up the coast, if I'd forgotten to plug in, we were limited in additional miles and had to wait for a recharge. Not so with the Bolt. As strange as it may sound, we just don't worry about charging anymore. We can drive pretty much anywhere we want and there's so much range left, that we don't need to plug in. Even better, we don't hesitate to use the climate control. Obviously, with the bigger battery, its impact is proportionally less, but it also seems to be more efficient - it doesn't reduce our projected range by anywhere near as much. And, it appears that for our short and around-town trips, we're getting over 300 miles of range. In other words, all of a sudden, our electric car is like a combustion engine car. Range anxiety is gone (though we do have to think a bit about longer trips). But for 98% of our driving, we can't tell the difference. The handling is phenomenal and is more like a European car, the ride is solid, and with the range, comfort, and storage space, I can't imagine a better car. Given a choice between a Tesla and a Bolt, I'll take the Bolt.

Just received a message on starting the Bolt that Keypass is ready to be activated. It appears a software update was done transparently and this feature now works. Haven't tried it yet, but I'm pleased to see that Chevy is on top of automatic software updates.

Chevy publicity photo of the first three Bolt customers. Note all the Bolts on the lot!

Last week, Chevy delivered Bolt EVs to its first three customers in Fremont, California, home of Tesla. The rest of the Bolts pictured at left were not destined for customers; they went to local Bay Area dealers as test drive vehicles. Scott Jobe, GM of Capital Chevrolet left the announcement event and drove a fully loaded orange Premier Bolt (complete with Infotainment Package, Driver Confidence II Package, and Fast Charging) to his dealership in San Jose. Within minutes of his arrival, Kevin Rodriguez, our incredibly responsive sales rep, called us to offer a test drive. Yesterday we took the Bolt out for 30+ minutes of varied driving.

I'll be posting at least two more blogs about the Bolt after we receive ours (hopefully this coming week), but here are our first impressions including very preliminary pros and cons. For more information on the Bolt, check out ​We Ordered a Chevy Bolt. Pricing, Features, and Availability, my previous post about the Bolt.

Also, you should know that we are no strangers to EVs. We have owned a Ford Focus EV for the past three years and have learned quite a bit about the advantages and disadvantages of driving an EV. For more on our Ford Focus EV, see Our #EV (Electric Vehicle), Pros and Cons.

Anxious to get driving, we only took a few minutes to explore the 8" driver information panel and the 10 inch center console display, but at first glance, they seemed intuitive. It was easy to navigate between phone, entertainment, camera, and other features on the console. While the console, phone and infotainment systems are far superior to the Focus, I must admit to prefering the analog speedometer of the Focus.

We were very curious about the surround vision feature. I'd read that it gives you a virtual bird's-eye view of the car from above but I didn't see how that was possible. But in fact, looking at the image, it does indeed appear that there's a camera placed 30 feet above the car. You see the car and everything around it. It operates while backing up and while going forward at low speeds - 8mph or less according to Kevin. It will certainly be useful when parking or maneuvering in tight spaces where you might not see objects to the front or side.

Of course, there isn't really a camera 30' above the car - no personal drone yet. Instead, the Bolt has cameras on the front, sides, and rear of the car which it combines to create a virtual image. The giveaway was that the car in the image appeared white while ours was that beautiful orange color (not my favorite).

Another feature we were excited to see was the rear view mirror camera. While the Bolt does have a back-up camera, the Premier edition's rear view mirror itself optionally displays what's behind you via the rear camera while you are driving. This could be useful when the car is loaded and you can't see out the back, and perhaps during daytime driving since it shows more than the standard mirror can. Karen felt that it needed to be positioned correctly to avoid reflections from the back seat and glare. For me, it was a bit disconcerting, but I think I could get used to it.

Before leaving the dealership, I noted that the driver information display indicated 192 miles of range, 150 miles on the odometer, and an average energy consumption of 3kWH per mile. That seemed a bit low (238 mile range on a 60kWH battery should yield closer to 4kWh per mile). But we didn't know how the car had been driven and didn't spend any time on this.

Karen pulled out of the dealership and we were pleased to discover that unlike the Focus, whose front wheels spin easily because of omni-present 100% torque and placement of the battery (under and behind the rear seats), the Bolt started smoothly. We headed towards the freeway and Karen tried to get used to the regen braking in Low mode as we stopped at lights. The Focus didn't give the driver any control over regen. If you were coasting, it regened. I suspect that although the Bolt is less intuitive in this regard, this is how they get such great range on a 60kWH battery.

Reaching the onramp, the Bolt accelerated smoothly, merging into traffic as easily as our Audi Allroad - the 0-60 acceleration times are comparable. The ride on the highway was smooth and the car handled well. Our only concern was that the wind noise was louder than we expected.

Karen left the highway after a few miles, parked in a shopping center, and we switched places. The rear camera gives you optional parking assist lines and warnings as people and vehicles pass behind you. Maneuvering around the busy parking lot was quick and responsive as we avoided holiday shoppers who weren't paying attention.

Out on the surface streets, it was my turn to try to get used to the single-pedal driving. I'm sure we'll get there with more practice. I found the Bolt to handle extremely well around corners - much better than the Focus, and was very pleased with its turning radius (we often had to do three-point turns in the Focus).

We headed back to the dealership and upon arriving, while we had probably driven 7 or 8 miles, I noted that the range still indicated 192 miles.

​We asked Kevin about Navigation, and he said that Chevy had told him the Bolt would not have Nav in the future. People prefer to use their phones (which connect to the console through Android Auto or Apple Car Play). And while it's true that we often use Google Maps instead of our Nav systems. When we're out of cell range (which happens often for us), we rely on our cars' Nav systems. I admit to being disappointed that the Bolt would not add Nav as a software upgrade in the future.

People were waiting to test drive the Bolt so we didn't get to spend any time with the console and information display. I would have liked to see what the configuration options were like for energy consumption tracking.

Here are a few very preliminary pros and cons compared to the Ford Focus EV based solely on our test drive experience:

ProsSmooth start - the torque does not cause spinning wheels.Comfortable ride.Very good handling - tight, solid, but comfortable.Excellent turning radius.Intuitive controls and displays.Cool surround vision.Great visibility.Clever headrest adjustments.Extremely roomy for passengers and cargo, excellent legroom and leg width, excellent headroom, front and back.Convenient place for purse under the dash, in front of the shifter.

ConsNot quite as luxurious as you might expect for a Premier model.A bit louder than expected on the highway.No Navigation system (must use Android Auto, Apple Car Play, or Onstar)Rear view mirror camera will take some getting used to.

We haven't said anything about range, charging, etc., because we really didn't get to test these aspects of the Bolt. That will wait until we get our own Bolt. According to Kevin, the dealership is expecting 55 Bolts in the next week or so and we're number 11 on the list. I'll do a post on our full impressions after we get ours and will follow it with another post about our experiences on our first 'long range' trip which we're planning for January.

We loved our Focus. For us, in spite of its range limitations and handling issues, it was a great first step into the world of EVs. We saved a lot of money on gas, only filling the Audi when we had longer trips to take.

Three years later, we're excited that the Bolt has leaped into the next generation of affordable EVs. We hope we're well on our way to a zero emissions future and elimination of our dependence on gasoline.

The media has been going crazy recently talking about fake news, conspiracy theories, lies, and damnable lies. With the advent of Social Media, how does anyone know what's true anymore? Has truth become relative? Has it always been so? Do facts exist?

The credibility of the mainstream media has been called into question. Is there any difference between what mainstream media says and what the average person says? After all, much of our news today comes from real time video by people who happen to be on the scene, not professional reporters. We see much more unfiltered reality this way than we ever did before. Whether it's natural disasters or a police shooting caught on video, we don't rely on mainstream media as much as we used to.

Adding to their credibility problem, the mainstream media has demonstrated strong biases in their reporting. This has become more pronounced as print media has suffered from the onslaught of online information. Budgets have been cut, and formerly reliable print media sources have been purchased by large corporations focused on profits, not truth. Many of the large corporate owners demand that these once reilable sources slant their coverage or sensationalize it in ways that were never done before.

But if news can come from anyone, and people have their own agendas too, who can you trust?

Fake news has made headlines lately with the election. Was it the Russians, teenagers looking to make some fast cash by getting lots of hits on their nascent sponsored sites or posts, or political operatives trying to sway people? Will the Internet always be susceptible to these types of 'schemes'? Will we see more incidents of people so convinced that falsehoods are true that they resort to violence in order to right imagined wrongs? Will propaganda become the currency of our modern internet age? Or has it already?

If you have millions of social media contacts and can shout your message out to them, a large percentage will believe almost whatever you say. The more contacts you have and the more people who propagate your claims, the more your message sounds true. Fake news uses this, jihadists use it, political extremists use it, and now, it's becoming mainstream. We're overloaded with propaganda. How do we find the truth?

Many pundits claim that we just need to educate users to differentiate what's true from what's not. Information consumers need to learn to take the time to look deeper into stories and their sources. Unfortunately, I don't think this could possibly work. Some of the most intelligent people I know have shared misleading stories that have cherry-picked facts to appear more credible. Usually they've propagated these stories based on headlines that seem to support their own points of view. After all, we love it when we're proven to be right, don't we?

If college-educated, internet-savvy people can do this, is there any hope for internet neophytes?

Is it really reasonable to expect us to fact-check everything we see on the Internet especially if it comes from our favorite, trusted social media sites and our friends?

I don't think so.

We know that major players like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and others are now looking at how to protect their users from misleading and potentially damaging information without violating first amendment rights to free speech and freedom of expression. But so far, interviews with their technologists seem to indicate that the problem may be intractable. I'm not so sure. It might not be that difficult.

I've noticed that some sites, like Yahoo News, offer a scoring mechanism for stories they publish. If you roll over the headline for the story, a meter pops up showing the number of people who liked the story versus the number who didn't or who were neutral about it. This certainly doesn't address the problem at hand as it just indicates how popular a story (and its positions) might be. But it might be an idea that can be built upon. What if we could roll over a story, post, tweet, search result, etc., and see a credibility meter instead?

As a technologist, I often look to working solutions to see if they can be applied to new problems. In this case, a proven model has been staring us in the face.

A Proven Model We Can Start WithNot so long ago email spam was a major problem. We'd receive hundreds or thousands of emails a day. The majority were just junk; some were dangerous (with viruses attached); many were scams; and then lost in the midst of all that junk, were the ones you really wanted to read. It was a disaster for most of us, causing lost productivity, wasted time, and in some cases damage to systems or pocket books.

And yet, in spite of the fact that there are a reported 400 BILLION spam messages per day on the internet, you don't hear much about spam anymore. It exists, but we now have spam filters that protect us.

Spam filters work through a combination of software running on our Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) mail servers and on our own computers.

At the highest level, these programs look at the email headers to track the path of the message back to its source. They then validate the sources against blacklists that include known spammers. Many compare against white lists (known and approved email servers). Next, they apply content filtering using algorithms to recognize common content in known spam. They assign a score to each email. Based on that score, which is computed from a combination of the reliability of the source and the content, they decide whether to delete the message, to designate it as probably spam, or pass the message as valid. If you look closely at your complete email headers, you can usually see each message's spam score. It's not a perfect system, but it works well enough to spare us from being innundated by unidentified spam.

Social media networks, search engines, news outlets, etc. could use a very similar method to validate posts. It's not terribly hard to find the sources of posts, messages, or stories, and from that, to assign a credibility score based on the originator's history of reliability. When displaying the story, it could include a rollover 'Credibility Meter'. Move your mouse over the search result, post, message, etc and a widget would appear giving you the score for this particular content.

A simple version of this filter could be developed and deployed very quickly. Later, as content dissecting algorithms become more sophisticated, so too can the accuracy of the reliability score.

I note that even in its simplest form, a Credibility Meter of this sort would at least let us know if we should dig deeper into the source and credibility of the story. At the same time, sources with low credibility scores would be motivated to create more factual posts to raise their scores. Ultimately, we'd see more reliable information on the internet.

Clearly, I'm not advocating a right or wrong, absolute fact or lie approach here. I'm just suggesting that news and social media assign scores to information we receive, based on the likelihood of it being reliable and on the credibility scores of the originator and the people who repost. That way, we can decide if we need to dig deeper or just want to believe what we see on the Internet.

I mentioned this idea to my former team over lunch today and one of my engineers is already at work to create a prototype. But as I told him, with such an obvious solution, I'd be surprised if someone else isn't already working on it.

​I like to solve problems. I also appreciate the instant gratification I get in solving Sudoku, KenKen, Minesweeper, or even FreeCell games as fast as I can. The faster the better.

During my career, my teams and I were often faced with problems that couldn't be solved in minutes, hours, or even days. We used systematic methods which required laying out multiple approaches to get to as many possible answers as possible. Collaboration usually helped. Persistence helped. But often we needed to walk away for a while and let our subconscious do the work; the answers arriving at odd times, like while taking a shower.

I must admit that I worry about our problem solving abilities. It seems like almost everything we do today is about faster and faster. If we can't get gratification in a matter of minutes, we move on to something else. Our attention spans are getting shorter. Computers and our intelligent portable devices make this easier and easier. I wonder if these addictions will lead us away from the sustained efforts needed to solve real world problems.

In thinking about this, I remembered the first sustained problem-solving effort I faced. I was 16. My high school Calculus teacher presented a challenge to the class. The first person to solve it would receive bonus points which could lead to the ever-sought-after A+. He had discovered the problem in that month's issue of Scientific American. It sounded simple enough:

Create all the number from 1 to 100 using exactly four 4s.

I dove right in, even before class was over and several numbers fell out quickly:

1 = (4+4)/(4+4)2 = (4*4)/(4+4)3 = (4+4+4)/4etc...

​But it didn't take long before I got stuck. I decided to keep moving on, skipping those that I couldn't get quickly. Once I realized I could use 4! (4*3*2*1 = 24), many more fell out. But I got really stuck on several. Days passed (I worked on this in my spare time) and one or two would fall out, then I'd be stuck again. Skip the next two paragraphs of this post if you don't want any more hints.

Ultimately, I understood that to solve the harder ones I needed to create tools - combinations of 4s (e.g. 4/.4 = 10) that I could use in other expressions ( e.g. (4/.4)*sqrt(4)+4 = 24 - note that I used 'sqrt' here because I couldn't easily add the square root symbol in this post).

The key was to think about other representations of 4, like factorial or square root, and then combine that with other representations to create numbers I could use to multiply, divide, add, or perform other operations with. It was a week or more before I had the tool building realization and then it took longer to build all the tools I needed. When I got really stuck it was usually because I needed to create a new tool.

Skip to here.

All told, it took me about 3 weeks. I was pretty proud of the fact that I was the first in the class to come up with a solution and my Calculus teacher admitted that he hadn't solved it yet. By the end of the term, as it turned out, no one else in all of his classes had solved it either. I'm not saying it to brag, I'm just laying down the challenge. Granted I've given you some hints that took me a while to get, but I'd be curious to see how long it takes you.

Since I haven't looked at this problem in decades (and I didn't keep the solution anywhere), I'm going to start on it myself.

If you get really stuck, contact me via the website and I'll give you more hints or some additional tools. Have fun!

The village of Gorliz from the trail above. Note the river and harbor on the far end of the beach

When we finished our visit to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe​, we were a bit tired from the climb back up the 600 foot cliff. But it was still early in the day and the late October weather was gorgeous with temperatures in the upper 70s. We weren't sure whether we were up for another hike or just wanted to kick back on the edge of the water in one of the many seaside towns on the Spanish Basque Coast.

The coastline here is rugged. It reminds me a bit of Big Sur with its imposing cliffs, precipitous drops to the sea, rocks formations and small islands, and spectacular views. The big difference is the rivers. There's lots of water here and rivers rush from the Pyrenees to the ocean carving wide fertile valleys and creating coves and harbors with beautiful sandy beaches. The beaches and harbors are protected by the huge cliffs to the east and west (remember this part of the coast of Spain faces north).

The beach at Gorliz - deserted!

Jean-Luc and Elaine pulled out a guidebook for hikes in the Basque region and one caught my eye - a hike to the Lighthouse at the End of the World. As it turned out, Jean-Luc and Elaine had done the hike so they were somewhat familiar with the area. We set off on a scenic 25-minute drive to Gorliz where the trail began. As we neared Gorliz, Elaine remembered the initial climb out of Gorliz towards the lighthouse, and after the morning's climb, suggested we might want to see if we could get closer to the lighthouse to make it an easier hike. She suggested a service road a service road they'd crossed the previous time and thought that we might be able to drive part way up. Unfortunately, the road was closed to non-service vehicles, so we made our way to a cafe overlooking the beach at Gorliz to discuss our options.

The beach was impressive - long, and completely deserted, aside from a few naturistes on the east end below the cafe's terrace.

The village of Gorliz has about 5,000 permanent residents. It's effectively a suburb of Bilbao and is the last stop on Bilbao's underground metro line. The bay and beach were formed by the Plentzia River on the west end. There's a protected harbor entrance at the mouth of the river. The large building on the beach path (as seen in the picture at the top of this post), is not a Casino as you might imagine, it's the hospital. In the 1920s, Gorliz was the first place on the Basque coast to set up a salt-water spa for health treatments. Now these are found in many of the towns and villages dotting the coast. Karen and Elaine frequently go to the Thalassotherapy Spas in Hendaye and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Re-energized after their coffees, Elaine, Jean-Luc, and Karen thought we might give the hike a try after all.

The climb up the trail from the east end of the beach was more challenging than expected but afforded us impressive views of Gorlitz, its beach, and the Plentzia River. With the rising temperatures and the late October sun, we were grateful for the shade as we ascended the forested trail. As we rounded the corner above the edge of the bay, the views to the west were breathtaking. We kept thinking the trail would flatten out but it kept climbing.

Looking west from what we hoped was the highest point.

Wild crocus along the way

Jean-Luc, Elaine, and Karen heading down to the trail you see below before heading up again.

Don't Fall! (Taken from the thin trail in the picture above.)

When the trail started to descend, we thought we had reached the highest point. But no. We had to go down a couple hundred feet, then climb a few hundred feet up the next hill. That one had no trees and no shade. We seriously discussed turning back. But the lighthouse called.

We passed fields of wild crocus, and made our way up to the next highest point where we finally saw the Lighthouse at the End of the World. ​

The Lighthouse at the End of the World

We followed the trail down to the access road which led to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse itself wasn't particularly spectacular. And while the views to the west were breathtaking, there was no way to see to the east - the part of the cliff that would have afforded that view was overgrown with plants. I must admit to being disappointed. I also thought that it didn't live up to its 'end of the world' billing.

There were also pictures and maps of the area marking additional hiking trails and describing the lighthouse's and the area's history.

The trail starts again behind the lighthouse and climbs another hundred feet or so, passing bunkers and underground galleries complete with cannons built by Franco after the Spanish Civil war in anticipation of an invasion by the allies during WWII. The trail then winds through scenic hills and valleys back to Gorliz.

At this point, though, we were a bit tired. Having climbed the cliffs of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe earlier and adding another thousand vertical feet here, we decided to take the shady service road back to Gorliz as the sun was setting.

An hour and a half later we were home and got cleaned up for a romantic dinner at one of our local favorites, Tantina de la Playa in Bidart.

If you decide to try the trail to the Lighthouse at the End of the World, set your expectations low for the lighthouse itself. As for the rest of the hike, it's definitely worth it: incomparable views, some interesting history, and a somewhat challenging 6.4 km (4 mile), 300 meter (1000 foot) vertical loop. And if it's summer or a warm fall day, don't forget to enjoy the beach and crystal clear waters of the Bay of Plentzia in Gorliz.

We'd had a couple of days of light rain in the Pays Basque region of France, but the forecast was for fair weather with temperatures rising into the upper 70s. A perfect day for a bit of exploring on the Spanish Basque coast.

We had originally planned to do the seven or eight mile hike near Itxaspe to see the spectacular Flysch (wildly twisted rock) formations in the cliffs along with caves, deserted beaches, and possibly some interesting surf spots. Unfortunately, after mentioning this plan to some friends over lunch, we were informed that the cast and crew of Game of Thrones had taken over this stretch of coastline for the next week. They had also recruited hundreds of extras for the shoots - but you had to be big, tall, hairy and ugly. Clearly I didn't fit the bill.

Our next choice was San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, a medieval Hermitage built in the ninth century by the Knights Templar on a tiny island just off the Basque coast. It is connected to the mainland by what our friend Elaine calls 'the great wall of China'.

We awoke to light rain, but trusting the weather forecast (a crazy thing to do in the Pays Basque), we picked up Elaine and her significant-other, Jean-Luc, and headed into Spain. Half an hour into our drive, the skies cleared. It was going to be a fine day.

To get to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, we took the A-8 towards Bilbao - about 90 minutes away, then headed north to the coast passing through the beach resort town of Bakio. We drove past the entrance to the parking area, thinking there might be another trail down from further up the road, and quickly discovered that the road was closed because the cliffs had fallen in. We had originally thought that after this hike, we might continue up the road to Bermeo, one of the largest Basque ports, but that wasn't going to be possible. Also, any alternative trails were long gone with the slides.

We parked in the mostly deserted parking lot and made our way to the trail noticing that in spite of the fine weather in late October, the nearby restaurants were closed. Fortunately, we'd brought a picnic lunch which we planned to eat once we reached the Hermitage.

Jean-Luc, Karen, and Elaine smiling on the way down.

The sign on the trail indicated it was only about 1.5km (about half a mile) to the Hermitage. I found this hard to believe because we were at least 600 vertical feet above the ocean, and we had to then climb an additional 300 feet up to the Hermitage.

We started down and discovered that the trail was wide but quite steep. ​No one was looking forward to the climb back up.

Nearing the bottom, we crossed a service road and shortly thereafter came to the wall/bridge that leads to the island. The coastline to the east and to the west (remember, the Spanish coastline here faces north) is spectacular with small islands, imposing cliffs and numerous 'natural bridges'. The 'wall' is even more impressive. Between the mainland and the island, at high tide, water passes through large arches in the bridge. Surprisingly, there are steps down the side that lead to these arches if you want a more impressive view. Fortunately for us, the tide was high and there were a few workers cleaning the rough stones on the steps down. With the heavy surf crashing below, we weren't tempted.

Instead, we began the climb up the 237 steps to the Hermitage.

Coastline looking east.

Coastline with 'bridge' looking west.

The wall and steps looking down from near the top of the island.

It's a challenging climb up the steps and ramps, but there are handrails and numerous flat places to stop and take pictures (or to catch your breath).

Arriving at the top, you round the main building and you see the huge wooden doors to the Hermitage, along with a rope that leads up to the bell tower.

Legend has it that once you've made the trek, you should ring the bell three times and make a wish.

Although there aren't many people who live nearby on the mainland across from the island, I have to believe that the neighbors get pretty tired of the ringing bell, especially during the summer tourist season.

We toured the top of the island looking for a good place to picnic and finally settled on a sun-sheltered structure on the side of the church. Unfortunately, the church doors were locked, so we were forced to peek through the crack in the doors to see the interior. ​

Inside the church - thanks to Telle for the photo.

Gaztelugatxe comes from two Basque words - gaztelu which means castle or fortress, and gatxe which means tremendously difficult.

Historians aren't clear exactly when the Hermitage was built. However, there are nearby graves dating from the 9th century and historical records showing its existence in the 10th century. It was apparently built by the Knights Templar and became a monastery during first part of the 11th century.

Interestingly, this small island and its Hermitage were the site of several strategic battles. Its access was challenging so the site was easily defensible and over the course of its history, several notable figures made successful 'last' stands here.

Seeing its strategic importance, Sir Francis Drake successfully attacked and conquered the site in 1593. Since then, the site has changed hands numerous times.

The history is interesting. The short though challenging walk down the cliffs, up to the Hermitage, then down from the Hermitage and back up the cliffs can be exhausting. Still, the views are worth the effort. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth the short detour from Bilbao to see San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

​By the way, apparently the cast and crew of Game of Thrones will also be using San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in episodes this next season. Watch for it!

It was a spectacular day on the north coast. A friend I hadn't seen in years came up to surf with me and there were only four of us out in perfect shoulder-high waves with a few plus sets. An hour into the session, I raced down the line hoping for a barrel in the section ahead, but at the last second, the water under the section drained with the dropping tide and I tried to turn down and out.

Unfortunately, the back rail of my board hung up and did an el-rollo with my foot while my knee went in the opposite direction. I felt a major tearing. I paddled back into the lineup and talked to the physical therapist who was surfing with us. He suggested that from the symptoms, it was a MCL tear - one of the most common surfing injuries. He also said that if the injury didn't involve other ligaments or the meniscus, it likely wouldn't need surgery.

Ironically, a few minutes later, my friend hurt his back, so we hobbled up the cliff together, disappointed at the number of uncrowded perfect waves we were going to miss.

I raced home, showered, iced, and elevated my leg, then waited patiently for the arrival of Karen's son and daughter-in-law, both Osteopaths and specialists in Neuromuscular Medicine. They were planning to spend part of the weekend with us. Two rounds of disc golf were scheduled for the next day and I envisioned being able to play. Little did I know.

In the meantime I did research on the internet to understand what the MCL was and what the prognosis might be.

The MCL is a ligament that runs on the inside of the knee. It is frequently injured in soccer, football, and rugby in a tackle where the foot is planted and the knee is struck from the outside, tearing the supporting ligament on the opposite side.

Mine was caused by my foot being pulled upward by the wave as my knee went downward and my body rebounded upward causing the same effect - a tearing on the inside of the knee.

I also discovered that MCL tears have three classifications:

Grade 1 - a minor strain with recovery times of a week or twoGrade 2 - a significant tearing of the MCL with recovery times of 4-12 weeksGrade 3 - a complete rupture of the ligament with recovery times of 12-16 weeks.

The primary test used to diagnose MCL strains is called a Valgus test. Basically, your knee held steady while your lower leg is pushed outward. If your leg flops outward with little resistence, little pain, and just keeps going past 45 degrees (even 90 is possible), you have a complete tear (Grade 3) of the ligament.

If your knee is stable and there is good resistance to the outward pressure, though painful, it is most likely a Grade 1 strain.

If your knee is unstable and your leg moves independent of the knee, but encounters resistance, it's a Grade 2 tear.

Mine was Grade 2 as there was significant instability in my knee. I was surprised that there wasn't significant swelling, but it appeared the wetsuit provided good compression and the cool water didn't hurt.

The Docs arrived and confirmed my diagnosis. They did some Osteopathic treatment to help realign the knee and to encourage fluid flow. But according to Karen's son, I was likely looking at 12 weeks for full recovery and certainly wouldn't be playing disc golf any time soon. Of course I didn't want to believe him. I'd never had an injury that was that debilitating and I couldn't imagine this one would be.

That night I tried to sleep in bed, but just the weight of a single sheet was too much if I moved my leg to the side. For the next two weeks, I slept in a recliner chair with my knee elevated.

Karen's son also recommended an offload brace. Unfortunately, the medical supply store didn't have any so I made do with a hinged knee brace. It helped, but with my now very swollen knee, the hinges pressed on the MCL. I later saw an offload brace and wished I spent the money (my insurance deductibles are ridiculous).

Partly because of insurance, but even more because I like to think I can solve every problem myself, I decided to do my own rehabilitation. I must admit that after all I'd read about unnecessary knee surgeries and their complications, I was skeptical of entering that process. But, I had the opinions of two Osteopaths (see my previous post on Why I Believe in Osteopathy) and a physical therapist, so I wasn't going into this completely blind. Based on their input and the analyses provided by sports medicine websites, it was almost certain I had an MCL tear with no other complications. So, from what I can see, it was just (!) a question of rehabilitation.

After studying numerous physical therapy and sports medicine sites, I ultimately settled on the Sports Injury Clinic. I also used Summit Medical Group's exercises. In particular, the initial stretching and strengthening exercises helped tremendously, particularly the passive knee extension (which hurt like hell), the heel slides, and the leg raises. I did the knee extension and flexion along with the heel slides several times a day until I got enough consistent flexibility to walk with minimal pain. Ultimately, I moved on to more challenging exercises. My progression went something like this:

First four days - RICE - the swelling was so bad I really couldn't do even the most basic exercises.Beginning day 5 - easy stretching exercises, especially knee extension and heel slides.Second week - added strengthening exercises with bands. Third week - started increasing walking distances and began gym workouts (bike and weights).Fourth week - added Plyometric exercises (one legged jumps).

By the fifth week, I was feeling pretty good. The swelling was almost completely gone and although my knee would get stiff if I sat for a while, doing the passive knee extension and flexion after getting up seemed to work well. I bought a brace with a strap, and decided to try to surf. The strap is cool because you can wrap it around the weak parts of your knee to provide much more support. It stretches so you can make it really tight and it velcros to itself.

I paddled out into easy, mushy rights and lefts. My first wave was a right (backside for me), and as I started my bottom turn, I felt my knee give and pull. It hurt like hell but the pain subsided quickly, I decided to try a left and had no pain at all until I did an aggressive cutback. I stuck with lefts for the next hour and surfed cautiously. Unfortunately, I discovered that when you duck a wave, the wave pulls at your legs, sometimes to the side, and when that happened it definitely hurt. I was sore after the session but I was glad to have surfed. Still, I knew I wasn't ready. It wouldn't take much to re-injure my knee in the surf. Anything unforeseen would do real damage.

I worked hard with the exercises and the gym the following week and tried again. This time the waves were small but quick and mostly lefts. I had a great time until I tried a right. Again, driving off the back leg hurt. It wasn't unstable like it was the week before, but still.

It's now been eight weeks. This past week, I was able to make full backside bottom turns and aggressive cutbacks on my lefts. I surfed four really fun days. On the last day though, I punched through a large set and got tossed around by the last wave. I really felt it in my knee. It didn't tear, wasn't any worse later, but I know that I can't let up on the strengthening exercises. I still have a ways to go for 'full recovery'. In the meantime, I can hike, dance, and play disc golf (took 4th in a tournament yesterday with no pain).

Mistakes I made.

Realistically, Karen's son was right. It's going to be 12 weeks for full recovery, particularly for surfing. I seriously underestimated how much inward force you put on your knee in a backside turn or frontside cutback. I seriously underestimated the force of the ocean, which is a very stupid thing to do. And at the beginning, I tried to do too much too soon. I'd try to push walking and tried to do the harder strengthening exercises when I wasn't ready. Each time I did, it set me back a couple of days with renewed swelling and loss of flexibility.

Overall though, I'm almost there. Still, perhaps you can avoid some of the mistakes I made.

Set your expectations - it's going to take longer than you think.Don't do too much too soon. Be very cautious as you restart any activity.Spend the extra for the best brace possible.

And, I think the main reason for my successful recovery is the dedication to the daily (or more) stretching exercises, and consistent and progressive strengthening exercises.

The good news is that if it's an MCL tear with no other damage, you can rehab it yourself. But above all, you need Patience, Patience, Patience!

Update January 2018.

It's been a year and a half since I first injured my MCL as described above. The rehab program worked, and I was back to full activity with maximal stress (surfing, extreme skiing, etc.) within 4 months (with a lot of hard work in rehabbing it). Everything seemed fine and then, six weeks ago, while Salsa dancing on a rough surface, my foot caught in a fast turn and I felt my MCL pull. It was too painful to continue dancing so I stopped. By time I got home, my knee was hugely swollen. I started the RICE treatment, but underestimated the severity of the injury. Yes, it was only a grade 1 injury - there was no looseness under the Valgus test, but almost any activity caused huge swelling. I consulted my muscular medicine doc and he informed me that re-injuries are often worse from the point of view of healing time. Unfortunately, he was right.

I hate being sidelined from the surf during one of the best seasons we've had in years. And, not being able to run, dance, ski, etc. is depressing at this time of year.

So here I am, six weeks later. The pain is gone. Most of the range of motion has returned (with lots of stretching), and I'm working on strengthening. The plyometric exercises are still tough. I did try surfing and easy front side is okay but I can tell I'm not quite ready for more aggressive turns. I will be giving skiing a shot this week (now that there's a bit of snow in the Sierra). In the meantime, I'm working hard on the strengthening and I now realize that to avoid re-re-injuring my knee, I need to keep up these exercises even after I'm back to 100%. They're going to become part of my daily routine, much like core strengthening has. Core strenghthening resolved all of my back problems and I expect I can avoid further knee injuries if I keep up these knee exercises too.

So, a final word of advice. Once you're back to normal, don't stop your strengthening and range of motion exercises. Do them regularly and hopefully, you can avoid a re-injury that will sideline you for several weeks.

I'm a skeptic. When I studied philosophy, I called myself an empiricist. Essentially, I don't believe in things unless they're proven. This is especially true when it comes to medical fads: vitamins, supplements, dietary changes, alternative medicine - you name it. Unless I can see some double blind studies that show solid evidence of their efficacy, count me out.

Of course sometimes my skepticism goes too far. I like to think that I'm well-read and well-informed, but the reality is, you can't know everything, no matter how hard you try. So what about the things you don't know about? Me, I try to do the research, but it's usually only after I bump into these unknowns in some way or another.

This was the case with Osteopathy. I knew Karen's son (Victor) and daughter (Sabrina) had enrolled in medical school and I knew that each of their schools specialized in Osteopathy. From my rudimentary understanding at the time, it seemed like it had something to do with manual manipulation to supplement standard medical care - something like chiropractic. But, since it didn't affect me, I didn't pay much attention.

Fast forward a couple of years. It's the day after Christmas and I'm surfing with a couple of friends on the north coast. Perfect morning, excellent uncrowded waves, good company. I climbed the cliff, drove home, and took a shower. Within an hour, I couldn't raise my right arm. The funny thing was that I couldn't remember hurting myself in the surf. Sure there were some tough duck dives and a few rail grabs, but usually I know when I've pulled something. Not this time.

It was officially a holiday and I knew my sports-med doc wouldn't be available so I went with the standard RICE treatment (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). I also loaded up on Ibuprofen. The next day it was worse, not better. I called the Doc's office and found out they were closed until after the first of the year. I called back-up sports-med docs and all were out for the rest of the year as well. All I could do was continue my RICE treatment.

At one point, I tried some stretching, but no luck. I had to eat left-handed, drive with one hand - do everything left handed - I couldn't raise my arm more than an inch or two and then, only with extreme pain.

Of course I went to the internet and quickly determined that the main area of pain was the coracoid process with radiating pain into the scapula and bicep, but I was unable to find anything that seemed to relate to my specific problem.

The following weekend, Karen and I were on a call with Karen's daughter, Sabrina (who now runs Resilience Health in Eugene, Oregon) and soon-to-be son-in-law, Steve (another Osteopath focusing on Family Medicine). I described my problem and Sabrina proposed the following: "Lie on your back. Have my Mom put the index finger of her right hand on your coracoid process and simultaneously lift your right arm into a fainting woman's position - palm outward on your forehead. Have her re-position the arm until you have minimal pain in the coracoid process. Have her hold that position for ninety seconds. Then have her return your arm to your side and rest for five or ten minutes."

We did as she asked. Ten minutes later, I sat up and raised my arm to shoulder level. After an hour, I could raise my arm over my head with zero pain. Later that afternoon, Karen and I were Salsa dancing at Salsa by the Sea and I had no recurring problems.

In between we called her back and she explained how this worked. I'm not an Osteopath, so I'll paraphrase. Basically, sometimes nerves send bad signals to the brain and the brain reinforces a problem by trying to fix it. Swelling and pain may increase and your body gets into a feedback loop. The technique she used is called Counterstrain. The pressure on the specific point and re-positioning sends a reset signal to the brain allowing the body to move on. It certainly worked for me. After a week with a paralyzed arm, this instant recovery seemed truly miraculous.

As I often do when I find something new, I went crazy doing research into Osteopathy. I discovered that Osteopathic physicians are regular physicians - they can do family medicine, psychiatry, surgery - anything an 'Allopathic' doctor can do. But, during medical school, in addition to the standard medical training, they study Osteopathy. They also are trained to do more holistic evaluation and treatment of patients, focusing on causes, not just treating symptoms. Osteopaths try to tap into the body's ability to heal itself before moving on to more aggressive treatments. Officially Osteopathy is:

a system of complementary medicine involving the treatment of medical disorders through the manipulation and massage of the skeleton and musculature.

You can recognize Osteopaths by the 'DO' after their names as opposed to an 'MD' for an Allopathic doctor.

A year and a half after that first incident, I was surfing the same spot. I pulled into a barrel which collapsed on me. I held onto my board and felt my left shoulder tear. By time I got my wetsuit off, my shoulder had swollen to the size of a grapefruit. I raced home.

Fortunately, Karen's son, Victor, an Osteopath who focuses on Neuromuscular Medicine and now runs Seek Optimal Health with his wife Lee Ann (also a gifted Osteopath specializing in Neuromuscular Medicine), was visiting. He stretched me out and started working on me. He discovered (without an MRI), a small rotator cuff tear and a misalignment. He treated me for about 45 minutes (most of it was painful), after which he explained that he had opened up passages (my word) to release the built up fluid (swelling), and had re-positioned my shoulder and upper back. He suggested I follow up with RICE and Ibuprofen for 3 days after which time I could get back in the water.

As I got up, I discovered that at least 90% of the swelling was gone as was most of the pain. I followed his advice and sure enough, 3 days later, I was back in the water.

In the years since, Osteopathy has become a regular part of my treatment for acute injuries. It has proven very effective, especially when combined with good physical therapy. Most Osteopaths suggest regular treatment to keep the body aligned and fluids flowing. I haven't gone that far yet, but I may well be on my way.

If you're like me and injure yourself from time to time, I strongly suggest consulting an Osteopath. Of course, check to see if your family doctor or Sports Medicine expert is a DO. I think you'll be pleased to find that miracles still exist in modern medicine.

When Karen's beloved Subaru died three years ago, we knew we needed a new car. Since my Audi could handle long distance and snow trips, we decided to go with an electric car. It's primary use would be to take me up the coast to surf so a Tesla was out of the question: there was no way I was going to leave a Tesla on the side of Highway 1.

​Aside from the Tesla, the Ford Focus Electric was the best looking Electric Vehicle (EV) and had the best range. Knowing technology would improve dramatically, we decided to do a three year lease. For more on our initial impressions and experiences with driving an electric vehicle, see my post Our #EV (Electric Vehicle) Pros and Cons.

​Three years have passed and we've loved our Focus. Yes, there have been times where range anxiety took its toll, but after understanding its limitations, we realized that even with that limited range, we could do 80-90% of our driving in the Focus. We were looking forward to a Focus with better range once our lease expired.

Unfortunately, as of early 2016 Ford had done little to improve the Focus's range. So, knowing our lease was expiring in November, we were excited to hear that the Chevy Bolt, with a 238 mile range, would be available by the end of the year.

I read the reviews and looked at videos of the first test drives by the various car publications and it looked like there were some great enhancements to the EV drive train. Even better, it appeared that the official 238 mile range is a conservative estimate. Several of the test drivers went much further, even with mostly highway driving (note that EVs get better range in the city than on higways).

I looked at Chevy dealers in the immediate Bay Area and it appeared that Capitol Chevrolet had the best reviews and seemed to have the most inventory. I contacted them in the spring, and Kevin Rodriguez told me that the dealers didn't know much about the Bolt but that he would keep me informed. In August, he let me know that they would be able to take orders in November with some limited deliveries in December. He said he could also now put me on a wait list for a Bolt.

In September, he reached out to inform me that they could take orders sometime in October - things were moving more quickly than expected. Then, on Friday, I got the good news: we could place an order on Monday. And sure enough, he and his GM, Scott Jobe, made ordering the newest electric car a smooth, painless process.

Since I haven't seen pricing for the Bolt and its options anywhere on the web, I thought I'd include them in this post.

The base model, the LT, at $37,495, comes with what you'd expect in a modern vehicle. It includes a rear vision camera, a 10.2 inch touch console for car systems, entertainment, and EV information, keyless open and start, climate control, etc. Its phone interface allows you to run music, apps, and Google Maps from your phone on the console.

GM has officially confirmed our order order and has promised regular updates as our car moves through the build process. Scott told us to expect delivery in January but said he had hopes that we'd see our car before the end of the year - so far GM is beating expectation on their dates. As soon as we get it, I'll post again to give you our first impressions of the new Bolt.

Who knew that megaliths, menhirs, dolmen, and cromlechs lay just a few minutes away from our place in the Pays Basque? I described some that we saw in Brittany in my post A Brief Trip up the West Coast of France - Quiberon. Those were certainly impressive as were the associated museums that explained how they came to be. But yesterday, we came upon local prehistoric structures during a hike in the Pyrenees just across the Spanish Border.

Our friends Elaine and Jean-Luc invited us to visit Sare, a small Basque village at the foot of the Pyrenees where they claimed we could find the best gateau Basque in the region. If the weather was nice, they proposed a short hike/walk from the village up towards the GR10 for some picturesque views, followed by a visit to the witches village, followed by a hike in an area they had recently discovered. The GR10 is the Grande Randonnee trail that runs from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the Pyrenees - about 900 km (560 miles).

We had agreed that if the weather was bad, we'd visit the famous caves of Sare and those in the witches' village. As it turned out, the day was overcast but comfortable, with the temperature about 70 degrees (20 C) - perfect weather for a hike. Rain was forecast for late that night into the next day. We decided to pass on the caves for this trip.

Karen and I encountered heavy Sunday morning traffic getting to Ciboure where we were to meet up with Elaine and Jean-Luc, so it was a bit later than expected when we left their place to begin our explorations. After a 15 minute drive, we were in Sare.

Parking on a side street, we followed the signs towards the GR10. Not far into our walk, we realized that there was a mountain bike competition going on as riders descended the trail at breakneck speeds towards the finish line on the fronton in the village. We spoke to some of the trail monitors who told us that only about half the field had passed them so far. So instead of continuing up the trail, we made our way back to the village where we realized we were hungry. We visited all of the open restaurants but couldn't resist the tempting dishes we saw being served on the terrace of the Hotel Arraya. The service and food were excellent and as often happens with French meals, wine and dessert extended what was supposed to be a brief stop into a 2-hour lunch.

The village of Sare

Interesting Architecture in Sare

View from the trail leaving Sare

Afterwards, we stopped at the gateau Basque stand next to the hotel. We bought our gateau Basque, hopped in the car, and made the short drive up to Zugarramurdi, the witches' village. We could have conceivably made the 7 km hike, but after such a nice lunch...

Zugarramurdi, the witches' village, is the Spanish equivalent of Salem, Massachusetts. Based on occult events beginning in 1609, purported witches from the village were tried and burned at the stake. There was a region-wide inquisition of over 7,000 accused women, children, and even certain priests who wore medallions with images of saints. Today, the village embraces its history with caricatures of witches' faces on stones, buildings, and road signs, and witches' brooms hanging above entrances to buildings. During the summer solstice, which is considered the witches' day, huge fires are lit in caves not far from the village. These are visible from the surrounding countryside in both Spain and France. In August each year, the deaths of those burned at the stake are remembered with a feast of roasted lamb in the caves. The lamb is roasted on stakes.

Elaine, Jean-Luc, and Coco

Auberge with witches' broom

After exploring the village, we stopped at a cafe across the small plaza from the Church of the Assumption for coffee (sparkling water for me), and our gateau Basque which was as good as promised. We took the narrow road up the hill a short distance to the place where Elaine and Jean-Luc had hiked before. They suggested we try a different trail, one on the right (west) side of the road. There was a large sign in Spanish, Basque and French that described several trails. Looking at the time, the thickening clouds, and recognizing that we had probably had too much food, we decided on a 5 km loop. We didn't even think about what the red, 'pi'-like symbol was at the top, but were surprised to find that there would be megaliths along the trail.

​We started out on what looked like a well traveled path, but as we turned up the hill past an abandoned bergerie, the trail thinned and markings were hard to find. We pushed on, assuming we had to get to the saddle on the top of the ridge. Along the way, we passed groups of Potoks, the small horses that live in the Pyrenees.

Once we reached the middle of the saddle, we couldn't easily determine whether to turn right or left. I went left, Jean-Luc went right and about 100 yards from the saddle, Jean-Luc found a trail marker so we went that way. If you go, when you reach the saddle, turn right (west). Thereafter, the trail markers were easy to find.

Karen, Steve, Elaine, and Jean-Luc about to start our hike

Looking down on Zugarramundi from the trail

Potoks on the way up

Jean-Luc, Elaine, and Karen nearing the top of the saddle

Nearing the peak west of the saddle

View of La Rhune from the peak west of the saddle

Climbing towards the west peak of the saddle, we had not only spectacular views of the French coastline and La Rhune, but of Spain to the south and the Pyrenees to the east. We began our descent into a beautiful valley.

Near the bottom of the hill, we saw our first marker for cromlechs. Before I continue, let me give you a few definitions. A menhir or megalith is an upright stone. Most are flat. Notable ones are several feet high, but sometimes they can be quite small. A dolmen is a structure build of megaliths. They usually have at least two upright stones with a flat capstone on top. Most were used as burial tombs. Some of the ones we saw in Brittany were huge. It seemed like a feat of engineering to raise the capstones, but in fact, the process was quite simple. After the side stones were placed, they filled the space between and around with dirt. They dragged the capstone onto the top of the mound, positioning it above the 'walls'. Finally, they dug out the earthen mound leaving a stone structure - no pulley needed to raise a stone weighing many tons several feet to place it on top.

Finally, a cromlech is a circle of menhirs or megaliths. Stonehenge is probably the most well-know cromlech. It appears no one knows exactly what cromlechs were used for. At least that's the case outside the Basque region. Theories abound. But in the Basque region, archaeologists have concluded that these are burial site markers, often with a dolmen in the center. Most of these structures were built between 4000 and 2000 B.C..

Continuing on our hike, we saw the marker for the cromlechs, but the cromlechs themselves weren't easy to spot. Unlike Brittany where these monuments are well-maintained, those before us were buried in the ferns and tall grasses. Plus, after 5,000 years of neglect in lightly traveled areas, most of the structures have fallen down or been eroded by the elements and severe storms of the Pyrenees. Somehow though, finding these structures out in the middle of nowhere seemed more authentic. ​

A collapsed dolmen

Cromlech hidden by vegetation

Cromlech layout

Leaving the cromlechs, we continued south along the trail through meadows, crossing streams, and entering the forest after the trail turned east to begin our loop back. We passed a few bergeries and with the thickening clouds, began to wonder if we'd make it back before the rain started. As we passed the 5 km point as indicated by Karen's Garmin, we still seemed to be quite far from our starting point. But the trail was well-marked and there really weren't any alternatives unless you were a mountain goat, so we pressed on.

We crossed a boulder-filled creek next to a small waterfall and soon found ourselves on the edge of a the ridge that would lead us back to the car. As we passed one final bergerie, the first few drops began to fall, but the car was in sight. We got into the car, closed the doors, and the sky opened up. Somehow even with the morning delays, the long lunch, and some trail misdirection, we'd timed it perfectly. The hike was a bit over 6 km (not 5 km as promised by the sign), and it had taken us 2 hours including pictures and exploration of the cromlechs. According to the sign, there are 7 km and 10 km monument hikes nearby. We'll be going back and will allocate more time to explore.